Carol Nemeroff

The Impact of Internalized Homophobia on HIV Preventive Interventions

A growing body of research implicates internalized homophobia—the internalization of societys antihomosexual sentiments by gay and lesbian people—as a factor contributing to HIV-related sexual risk behavior in gay and bisexual men. Although accumulating evidence links internalized homophobia and sexual risk behavior, no study has explored the impact of internalized homophobia on efforts to prevent these behaviors. This paper examines the effect of internalized homophobia on gay and bisexual mens awareness of, participation in, and perceptions of programs offered by a community-based HIV prevention organization. In Study 1, 595 gay and bisexual men reported their levels of awareness of and participation in HIV prevention programming offered by one community organization. Internalized homophobia was negatively related to mens awareness of the services offered by the organization. However, among the men who were aware of at least one service, internalized homophobia did not further predict service utilization. Study 2 examined 89 gay and bisexual men who participated for a single session in a group-structured, community-based HIV preventive intervention. Pre- to immediate postintervention change in perceptions of condom use self-efficacy was inversely related to internalized homophobia. Internalized homophobia was also a significant negative predictor of the extent to which participants felt similar to and related well with other members of the group. Together, these findings suggest that internalized homophobia may pose multiple barriers to community-based HIV prevention efforts.

Disturbances in identity and self-regulation in bulimia nervosa: implications for a metaphorical perspective of "body as self".

This study investigates a metaphorical account of bulimia that proposes that bulimics lack a clearly defined sense of self, and subsequently utilize their physical bodies as a means of self-definition and regulation. Three major aspects of this perspective were assessed: identity disturbance; use of the binge and purge as means of emotional regulation; and sensitivity to interpersonal contact. Differences among bulimics, binge eaters, and normal controls were explored. Bulimics reported greater amounts of identity confusion, enmeshment, and overall instability in self-concept than normal controls and binge eaters. The binge led to an escape from self-awareness for bulimics, and the purge served to manage negative affect. Bulimics also showed greater sensitivity to interpersonal contact with positive people, and with their mother than both binge eaters and controls. Implications of the findings are discussed as well as future directions for research.

Do Gay and Bisexual Men Share Researchers' Definitions of Barebacking?

Abstract Despite pervasive discussion of “barebacking” in the HIV prevention literature, inconsistencies exist in how the term is defined. Moreover, little is known about whether gay and bisexual men concur with any of the definitions in the literature. In this study, gay and bisexual men (n = 398) were provided with four scenarios, describing various circumstances in which someone has unprotected anal intercourse. Participants were asked to indicate whether the man in each scenario was “barebacking.” Sixty-four percent did not discriminate in defining the term, indicating that barebacking includes any unprotected anal intercourse with any kind of sexual partner. Men were also asked whether they had ever tried barebacking, and if so, why. The most common reasons provided were (1) having sex with a steady partner, and (2) increased physical sensation. These findings suggest that mens definitions of “barebacking” vary widely and do not necessarily coincide with those of researchers and HIV prevention advocates.