Relationship between safe sex and acculturation into the gay subculture.

There is some evidence, although conflicting, to suggest that socialization or acculturation into the gay community is associated with lower levels of unsafe sex. We attempted to determine the relationship between acculturation and sexual safety. We examined data from 282 men (from the Dallas AIDS Community Demonstration Project) who had sex with men and were not in a monogamous relationship to determine the associations between safer sex and indices of acculturation. The indices of acculturation included regular reading of local and national gay newspapers and magazines, and belonging to an organization for gay men. The data indicated that there were significant relationships between acculturation, talking to sexual partners about HIV risk reduction and sexual identity, and the dependent variable of frequency of condom use for anal sex. A regression equation indicated that 21% of the variance of anal condom use was predicted by these variables. These data suggest that acculturation into the gay community is associated with safer sexual behaviour, and we discuss the implications of these data for using role models and normative beliefs in HIV prevention programmes.

Predictors of bleach use among current African-American injecting drug users: a community study.

One hundred seventeen African-American current injecting drug users were interviewed in a closely matched pair of census tract communities in Dallas, Texas. A brief street intercept interview was administered that included an eligibility screener and questions on sexual behaviors with main or other partners and on injection drug paraphernalia bleaching behavior. Multiple regressions were conducted to determine significant predictors of frequency and duration of cleaning needles with bleach using different models (risk, attitude, exposure, and full). The variables measuring risk behaviors were age, frequency of sharing, exchanging sex for money, and sexual partner's use of injecting drugs. The predictors for the attitude model included normative, attitudinal, and self-efficacy items. The exposure to HIV information variables included seeing/hearing information; talking to someone about HIV, condoms, cleaning needles; and antibody testing for HIV. The full model combined predictors from each of the other models. Overall, bleach use is best explained in terms of specific attitudes rather than risk behaviors or information about HIV.