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Unprotected sex eight times more common in serious relationships than casual ones, US gay youth study finds
Gus Cairns, 2011-08-26 14:30:00
The strongest single predictor of not using condoms in anal sex in a group of young US gay men was that the relationship was regarded as ‘serious’, a study has found. Unprotected sex was eight times more likely in serious relationships than in casual encounters.
This study, conducted conducted by Northwestern University in Illinois, USA (Mustanski) reinforces previous findings that over two-thirds of HIV transmissions between US gay men happen between primary sex partners and only a third between casual partners (Sullivan).
In this study, the researchers comment, “there was almost no unprotected sex occurring in relationships classified as casual”. This suggests that HIV prevention strategies amongst US gay men may need to focus more on HIV risk and safer-sex negotiation within couples than on individual risk-taking decisions.
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