María Dolores Gil-Llario

Relationship Status as an Influence on Cybersex Activity: Cybersex, Youth, and Steady Partner

The authors focus on the influence of participants’ having or not having a steady partner when reference to cybersex use. Participants were 1,239 young, Spanish individuals who completed the Internet Sex Screening Test. Results showed the influence of being in a relationship on certain consumption dimensions of cybersex; the influence was found to be greater in men than in women. In general, cybersex activity was higher for single participants, although it was also significant for participants with a steady partner. The authors’ findings facilitate the comprehension of the effect of new technologies in intimate human relationships.

Culture as an Influence on the Perceived Risk of HIV Infection: A Differential Analysis Comparing Young People from Mexico and Spain

This study analyzes risk behaviors and attitudes related to HIV-AIDS transmission between young people from two Hispanic/Latino culture and origin (Mexico and Spain). For this purpose, 840 participants filled out the AIDS Prevention Questionnaire (Ballester et al., El “Cuestionario de Prevención del Sida (CPS)”: Análisis de la fiabilidad y validez. Sociedad Española Interdisciplinaria del Sida, San Sebastián, 2007). From the Theory of reasoned action, our results revealed differences between the risk behaviour profiles of young people depending on their origin or gender, in terms of attitudes and behaviours. For example, Mexican participants have exhibited more levels of perceived risk or severity of HIV while for Spaniards, the fear of HIV was higher. Regarding the perception of condom use, loss of pleasure seems to be an important barrier for both groups of Mexican and Spanish young although others, such as lack of information would be reported only for Mexican women. Regarding self-efficacy, there are no significant differences in general but, in specific cases, we found them: Spanish participants seem to be more comfortable with putting on a condom while Mexican participants are more confident when it comes to buying it. However, these Spanish young people have reported more behavioural intention and present condom use in all sexual practices. In general, predictors of condom use are different depending on gender and origin. Thus, in order to develop effective strategies in AIDS prevention, cultural differences for HIV transmission should be considered even inside the group of Hispanic/Latino young people.

Autoeficacia en la prevención sexual del Sida: la influencia del género

La literatura cientifica apunta a que la escasa autoeficacia para el uso del preservativo explicaria muchas conductas de riesgo de transmision del VIH en jovenes. Se analiza la autoeficacia de los jovenes en el uso del preservativo, la existencia de diferencias de genero y la relacion con variables relevantes en la prevencion. Se aplico la �Subescala de Autoeficacia en el Uso del Preservativo�, incluida en el Cuestionario de Prevencion del Sida (Ballester et al., 2004), a 3540 universitarios (50.9% mujeres, 49.1% hombres). Los resultados indican que los jovenes obtienen puntuaciones medias en autoeficacia, mostrandose la menor puntuacion en el autocontrol en el momento de excitacion. Se obtienen diferencias estadisticamente significativas en distintas situaciones segun el genero, siendo las mujeres las que se perciben mas autoeficaces que los hombres, sobretodo en situaciones relacionadas con una posible evaluacion negativa por parte de la pareja al sugerir su uso. Y menos que ellos en aquellas referidas al ambito publico (comprar preservativos). Ademas, autoeficacia correlaciono significativamente con intencion de conducta preventiva, mayor frecuencia real de uso del preservativo y percepcion de eficacia del preservativo en la prevencion del VIH. Las futuras intervenciones preventivas deberian incluir un componente de autoeficacia y una perspectiva de genero.

The Influence of Drug Consumption on Condom Use and Other Aspects Related to HIV Infection Among Male Sex Workers in Spain

Higher rates of substance use have been associated with unsafe sex behavior. Male sex workers (MSW) present high rates of drug use during or after the professional sexual exchange with clients and also in their leisure. This research describes patterns of drug consumption among MSW in Spain and explores both the effect of substance use on professional and risk sexual behaviors. Participants were 100 agency MSW offering their services in Valencia and Castellón (Spain). Most of them were drug users and the most common substances were “soft drugs” and cocaine. An absence of injection drugs was found. Drug consumers indicated a higher HIV risk perceived and lower perceived influence of substance use on condom use negotiation. Drug influence on condom use is not clear. More investigation about drug influence on sexual risk behaviors among MSW is needed. The role of steady partners and clients must be taken into account too.ResumenUn mayor consumo de sustancias se ha asociado al mantenimiento de conductas sexuales de riesgo. Diferentes estudios han puesto de manifiesto altas tasas de consumo entre los Trabajadores Masculinos del Sexo (TMS) durante y después del intercambio sexual con sus clientes, así como en su tiempo libre. Este estudio describe el patrón de consumo de sustancias en los TMS en España y explora el efecto que dicho consumo tiene en las conductas sexuales profesionales y personales de los TMS. Los participantes fueron 100 TMS que ejercían en pisos gestionados por terceras personas en las ciudades de Valencia y Castellón (España). La mayoría consumían drogas, principalmente “drogas blandas” y cocaína. No se encontró consumo de drogas inyectadas. Los TMS consumidores de sustancias indicaron un mayor riesgo de infección por VIH y una menor influencia del consumo de drogas en la negociación del uso del condón. Es necesaria más investigación sobre la influencia del consumo de drogas en el mantenimiento de prácticas sexuales de riesgo. El rol de las parejas no comerciales así como el de los clientes debe ser también tenido en cuenta.

What Works Well in HIV Prevention Among Spanish Young People? An Analysis of Differential Effectiveness Among Six Intervention Techniques.

Abstract The AIDS epidemic remains a concern of public health among young people and adolescents. Prevention programs have revealed diverse deficiencies to attain their main goal: preventing risky behaviors. This experimental study evaluates the differential effectiveness of six intervention techniques for preventing HIV/AIDS based on informational-motivational-behavioral Model (talk, website, attitudinal discussion, participation of a seropositive person, fear induction and role play). 239 Spanish young people took part in an experimental design to evaluate six intervention techniques and a non-intervention condition, through changes in their knowledge, attitudes and protective sex behavior. Our findings support a general effectiveness of preventive intervention techniques comparing non-intervention. In particular, the motivational techniques reveal more effectiveness for these Spanish young people. Therefore, it is required identifying a differential impact of the intervention techniques when implementing HIV behavioral interventions.ResumenLa epidemia del VIH todavía supone un problema de salud pública entre la población joven y adolescente. Los programas de prevención han revelado diversas deficiencias para conseguir su objetivo: prevenir las conductas de riesgo. Este estudio experimental evalúa la eficacia diferencial de seis técnicas de intervención para prevenir el VIH-Sida, basados en el Modelo Información-Motivación-Conducta (charla, web, discusión actitudinal, participación de una persona seropositiva, inducción del miedo y juego de roles). 239 jóvenes españoles participaron en un diseño experimental para evaluar seis técnicas de intervención y una condición de no intervención, mediante cambios en su conocimiento, actitudes y conducta sexual segura. Nuestros hallazgos apoyan la efectividad general de las técnicas de intervención preventivas frente a la no intervención. En particular, las técnicas motivacionales revelan más efectividad para este tipo de jóvenes. Así pues, parece necesario identificar el impacto diferencial de las técnicas de intervención cuando son implementadas.

HIV Prevention Interventions for Young Male Commercial Sex Workers

The sex industry, where men sell sexual services to other men or women, has grown in recent years. These men who offer sexual services are particularly vulnerable to HIV infection due to such factors as: frequency of risky sexual practices, number of sex partners, drug-taking, prevalence of sexually-transmitted infections (STI) and their specific situation of social exclusion which may hinder access to health services. These multi-faceted realities faced by sex workers explain the burgeoning interest in new avenues of scientific research. There are too few preventive programs however aimed at this population group and the studies that evaluate their effectiveness are fewer still. In this article we survey more recent studies on the difficulties of implementing programs for HIV prevention in male sex workers (MSW), as well as the studies that have gauged the impact of preventive programs in this group.

Cybersex in the Net generation

The internet offers several opportunities to explore sexuality among adolescents. However, some studies have also revealed problematic effects of cybersex in earlier stages. Despite this, few studies analyze the online sexual behavior among adolescents, even less in Spain where there is very little data. For this reason, our aim is to examine the use of internet for sexual purposes among Spanish adolescents, including gender differences. Three hundred and twenty-two adolescents completed an ad-hoc questionnaire and the Spanish version of the Internet Sex Screening Test. In general, boys report more cybersex than girls do, for example, in masturbating while the Internet (60.6% of boys and 7.3% of girls). In addition, internet sex interferes with lifestyles more frequently in boys (12.7% of them) than in girls (4.7% of them). Moreover, according to linear regression, variables such as general pornography use or oral sex seem to be connected to cybersex for both groups, while same-sex behaviors are more associated with cybersex for boys and masturbation for girls. Therefore, these findings support the existence of cybersex among Spanish adolescents (ranging from 3.1% to 60.6% in boys and 0%-11.5% in girls for some online sexual activities), including certain problematic behaviors (8.6% of boys show a risk profile), and the relevance of gender in its analysis. These results should be considered in prevention and support strategies. The online sexual behaviors are frequent among Spanish adolescent boys.Gender seems to play an important role in adolescent cybersex.The use of pornography and the oral sex may associated with adolescent cybersex.In some adolescents, the internet could facilitate the experimentation of stigmatized behaviors.

Sexual sensation seeking in Spanish young men and women with different sexual orientations.

This study analyzes the relation of sexual orientation and gender to sexual sensation seeking. Participants were 382 individuals (200 men, 182 women) between 17 and 29 years old who completed the Sexual Sensation Seeking Scale. Of the 382 participants, 52.46% self-reported heterosexual orientation, and 47.64% self-reported homosexual orientation. The results showed differences with Sexual Sensation Seeking being more frequent among heterosexuals and men. There were no differences between heterosexual and homosexual men. Heterosexual women had higher sexual sensation seeking scores than did homosexual women. These results and their possible implications for the effective development of prevention and intervention programs in affective-sexual education are discussed.

Health promotion in young people: identifying the predisposing factors of self-care health habits:

Unhealthy behaviors are strongly associated with chronic diseases, disabilities, or mortality. Identifying the predisposing factors that influence on self-care healthy habits will improve an early detection of high-risk groups. Four hundred and sixty-six Spanish young people aged 18–25 years were assessed. Global perceived health self-care was predicted by Value of health and Conscientiousness, both in females (R2 = 0.185; F = 29.661; p < 0.001) and males (R2 = 0.154; F = 17.849; p < 0.001). The results have shown gender differences in health self-care habits. Health promotion policies should include specific health consciousness-based strategies.

Construction and Validation of a Self-Efficacy Scale for Latex Barrier Use

Some studies have concluded there is a relationship between perceived self-efficacy and behaviors that prevent HIV transmission. This paper presents the construction and validation of the latex barrier use self-efficacy scale (LBSS), which 480 participants filled out. Exploratory factor analysis yielded two components: positive expectations of self-efficacy (ES-POS) and negative expectations of self-efficacy (ES-NEG), which together accounted for 65.59% of total variance. That structure was later verified through confirmatory factor analysis. Internal consistency was .80 for the total scale, and .78 for each of the two factors. Moreover, the instrument had adequate convergent validity and was positively related with condom use self-efficacy, attitudes toward condom and latex barrier use, and ability to refuse sex if the partner refuses to use preventive methods. In conclusion, this instrument is a useful measure of self-efficacy in latex barrier use.