How Do Men Who Have Sex With Men Currently Understand, Evaluate And Respond To HIV Risk? A Mixed Methods Analysis Of An Internet Survey In A Post-Antiretroviral Society.

This thesis sets out to examine how men who have sex with men (MSM) currently understand, evaluate and respond to HIV risk. The aims of the study were to explore key areas of HIV risk understanding, including how HIV risk was understood in a post-antiretroviral society and how masculinities affect this risk understanding. In addition, key aspects of the negotiation of sex used by those who were single and in (open) relationships were considered. An examination of a variety of mass media HIV prevention interventions was carried out to explore what viewing them tells us about risk perception and response. Of key interest to this research was how these understandings of HIV risk were evolving within the context of the shifting definitions of love, with the introduction of formalised relationship structures, and sex, caused by the impact of antiretrovirals in the MSM communities. This study unified the results from quantitative and qualitative data that emerged from an online mixed methods survey to unravel the experiences of a convenience sample of 557 UK-based MSM. This survey incorporated a mixture of both open and closed questions, vignette questions and made the use of visuals to allow nuanced responses to emerge. The findings reveal how these shifting definitions of sex and love are affecting how men understand HIV risk, the consequences for the negotiation of sex, and indicate various improvements that may need to be made to address these issues.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

phd

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

The Open University

Year dc:date.issued

2017

Author dc:creator

• Kavanagh, Brian

Language dc:language

en