Michael Newcomb Edits Journal Section on Biomedical Interventions for Gay and Bisexual Men

Michael Newcomb, PhD, an Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing (ISGMH) faculty  member, co-edited the latest special section of the Archives of Sexual Behavior with Jonathan Rendina of Hunter College. The special section, titled “Social and Behavioral Science with Gay and Bisexual Men in the Era of Biomedical Prevention,” includes an introduction from Newcomb and four papers from ISGMH faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and staff.

“This special section draws from a meeting convened around gay and bisexual men’s behavioral science in 2018, right at the time when we started seeing a dramatic increase in the use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention and increased knowledge about suppressed viral load as risk reduction strategy for HIV-positive people,” said Newcomb.

The papers published in the special section, much like the 2018 meeting, offer cutting-edge work on biomedical interventions and provocative findings that can help push the field forward on PrEP uptake, condom use, and HIV stigma in relationships. One particularly hopeful finding presented in the special section shows that the increased use of PrEP has led to destigmatizing HIV-positive people as sexual and romantic partners, noted Newcomb.

Publications that dedicate space to the ever-evolving field of sexual and gender minority (SGM) health research play an essential role in sharing knowledge and keeping researchers up-to-date.

“We see in SGM health that things can change so rapidly,” said Newcomb. “In HIV prevention in particular, new prevention technologies are coming out constantly. All of the sudden, new knowledge can totally shift the landscape about what we think is risky or not risky, healthy or not healthy. It also shifts how we do the research on those topics.”

Papers by ISGMH Researchers

Introduction to the Special Section on Social and Behavioral Science with Gay and Bisexual Men in the Era of Biomedical Prevention
Michael E. Newcomb, H. Jonathan Rendina

“The articles for this special section tackled important questions that have now become commonplace among social and behavioral scientists doing HIV prevention work in the age of biomedical prevention, including how we think about the operationalization of variables, the translation of findings across groups, the impact of biomedical prevention technologies on sexual health and psychological functioning, and methods to push the limits on the ways we capture data to better integrate them into daily living and enhance external validity.”

PrEP Awareness, Uptake, Barriers, and Correlates Among Adolescents Assigned Male at Birth Who Have Sex with Males in the U.S.
Kathryn Macapagal, Ashley Kraus, Aaron K. Korpak, Kyle Jozsa, David A. Moskowitz

“Not knowing how to access PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) was predicted by having had more partners, lower HIV knowledge, and never having talked to a provider about PrEP. Believing that one could not afford PrEP was predicted by greater perceived risk of HIV. Findings suggest moderate awareness of PrEP among AMSM (adolescent men who have sex with men), that youth at greater risk of HIV may perceive greater barriers, and that online spaces can play a significant role in increasing PrEP knowledge and reducing implementation barriers.”

Condom-Associated Erectile Function, But Not Other Domains of Sexual Functioning, Predicts Condomless Insertive Anal Sex Among Young Men Who Have Sex with Men
Dennis H. Li, Michael Newcomb, Kathryn Macapagal, Thomas Remble, Brian Mustanski

“Among a sample of YMSM (young men who have sex with men), decreased erectile function associated with wearing condoms contributed to increased odds of engaging in CIAS (condomless insertive anal sex). This finding partially supports our first hypothesis, that poor sexual functioning when wearing condoms would predict CIAS. RADAR participants reported significantly lower erectile function, orgasm satisfaction, and global sexual activity satisfaction when having sex with condoms compared to when having sex in general (both with and without condoms), suggesting the difference may be attributed to condomless sex.”

Navigating the Long Road Forward for Maximizing PrEP Impact Among Adolescent Men Who Have Sex with Men
David M. Huebner, Brian Mustanski

“We highlight concerns that need to be addressed in the areas of (1) achieving adequate coverage of PrEP in the adolescent population, (2) increasing awareness and access, (3) supporting adherence and maintenance, and (4) ensuring that PrEP does not perpetuate existing disparities. Across all of these domains, we highlight the central roles of parents and healthcare providers in supporting AMSM PrEP utilization. Finally, we suggest a number of areas of future research that must be addressed before PrEP is likely to see wide implementation among AMSM.”

Meeting the Sexual Health Needs of Bisexual Men in the Age of Biomedical HIV Prevention: Gaps and Priorities
Brian A. Feinstein, Brian Dodge

“In an effort to advance research on bisexual men and their sexual health needs, the goals of this commentary are: (1) to review the empirical literature on the prevalence of HIV/STI among bisexual men, the few existing HIV/STI prevention interventions developed for bisexual men, and the use of biomedical HIV prevention among bisexual men; (2) to describe the ways in which the field of HIV/STI prevention has largely overlooked bisexual men as a population in need of targeted services; and (3) to discuss how researchers can better address the sexual health needs of bisexual men in the age of biomedical HIV prevention.”