Hookup App Use, Sexual Behavior, and Sexual Health Among Adolescent Men Who Have Sex With Men in the United States

Abstract

Use of MSM-specific apps was not uncommon among this sample of AMSM. Patterns of risk behavior and HIV testing were similar to samples of adult MSM app users. Further research should investigate AMSM's app-related sexual and HIV/sexually transmitted infection prevention decision-making to guide sexual health education efforts for AMSM.

Geosocial Networking Application Use, Characteristics of App-Met Sexual Partners, and Sexual Behavior Among Sexual and Gender Minority Adolescents Assigned Male at Birth

“…Prior research has shown that a majority of SGM AMAB use sexual networking applications intended for sexual minority male adults (Macapagal et al, 2018). Little else is known about minor adolescents' use of these technologies despite their critical implications for sexual health and wellbeing.…”

“…Our study sought to add to this nascent literature by (1) assessing app use patterns and potential differences in app use by SGM AMAB's sociodemographics and sexual risk, and 2examining partner-seeking behaviors on GBQ and other types of apps, app-met partner characteristics, and sexual behavior with app-met partners. This study is the first to characterize app-met partnerships in a sample comprised exclusively of SGM AMAB who are minor adolescents (i.e., <18 years) and is one of the two empirical studies (Macapagal et al, 2018) to provide insight into their participation in a virtual sexual venue that is intended for legal adult members.…”

“…Two items in the screener asked whether participants had ever used a GSN application for gay, bisexual, and queer (GBQ) guys who like guys, and whether they had ever used other types of GSN applications (e.g., Tinder) or social media (e.g., Facebook) that were not specific to sexual minority men to meet same-sex/gender partners (yes, no). Based on these items and following prior work (Macapagal et al, 2018), participants were classified into three groups for analysis. "GBQ-app users" were those who had reported ever using a GSN application for GBQ men to meet partners; "other-app users" were those who had never used GBQ apps but had used social media or other dating apps not specific to sexual minority men to meet partners; and "non-users" were those who had used neither GBQ-apps nor other types of apps to meet partners.…”

“…To date, the only study of GSN application use among SGM AMAB under 18 found that over half of participants had used GSN applications intended for sexual minority men to meet male partners (Macapagal et al, 2018). Motivating their use was a lack of access to same-sex/gender partners and the desire to avoid unwanted disclosure or discovery of their sexual orientation.…”

“…Compared to users of other applications, those who used apps for sexual minority men were older, had more lifetime sex partners, were more likely to have had sex exclusively with male partners, perceived themselves to be at greater risk of HIV, and reported greater rates of condomless anal sex. They were also somewhat more likely to have been tested for HIV compared to users of other types of apps (Macapagal et al, 2018).…”