ILLINOIS – According to a new research study by Northwestern University, gay young men in serious relationships are six times more likely to have unprotected sex than those in casual relationships, and this group accounts for nearly 70 percent of all new HIV/AIDS diagnoses in adolescents and young adults in the U.S.
Brian Mustanski, associate professor in medical social sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and lead author of a paper on the research said,
“Being in a serious relationship provides a number of mental and physical health benefits, but it also increases behaviors that put you at risk for HIV transmission. Men who believe a relationship is serious mistakenly think they don’t need to protect themselves.”
The reasons behind this are that about 80 percent of gay young men who are HIV positive don’t know it because they aren’t having themselves tested often enough.
Mustanski said, “Both people in a serious, monogamous couple relationship should go and receive at least two HIV tests before deciding to stop using condoms.”
The Northwestern study looked at the behaviors of a diverse population of 122 young men over two years in Chicago and the suburbs.
Mustanski added, “We need to do greater outreach to young male couples as this is one population that has really been left behind. We should be focusing on serious relationships.”
For more information on the study, go to northwestern.edu.
