Heterosexual Anal Sex Among Men and Women in Substance Abuse Treatment: Secondary Analysis of Two Gender-Specific HIV-Prevention Trials. Issue 1 (2nd January 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hatch-Maillette, Mary A.; Beadnell, Blair; Campbell, Aimee N. C.; Meade, Christina S.; Tross, Susan; Calsyn, Donald A.
• Is Part Of: Journal of sex research. Volume 54:Issue 1(2017)
• Page Start: 33
• Page End: 41
• Publication Date: 2017-01-02
• Subjects: Sexology -- Research -- Periodicals; Sex -- Periodicals; Psychiatry -- Periodicals; Sex; Psychiatry; 306.705
• DOI: 10.1080/00224499.2015.1118426
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0022-4499

Abstract

Abstract : Receptive anal sex has high human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission risk, and heterosexual substance-abusing individuals report higher anal sex rates compared to their counterparts in the general population. This secondary analysis evaluated the effectiveness of two gender-specific, evidence-based HIV-prevention interventions (Real Men Are Safe, or REMAS, for men; Safer Sex Skill Building, or SSSB, for women) against an HIV education (HIV-Ed) control condition on decreasing unprotected heterosexual anal sex (HAS) among substance abuse treatment-seeking men ( n = 171) and women ( n = 105). Two variables, engagement in any HAS and engagement in unprotected HAS, were assessed at baseline and three months postintervention. Compared to the control group, women in the gender-specific intervention did not differ on rates of any HAS at follow-up but significantly decreased their rates of unprotected HAS. Men in both the gender-specific and the control interventions reported less HAS and unprotected HAS at three-month follow-up compared to baseline, with no treatment condition effect. The mechanism of action for SSSB compared to REMAS in decreasing unprotected HAS is unclear. More attention to HAS in HIV-prevention interventions for heterosexual men and women in substance abuse treatment is warranted.