Social Responsibility, Substance Use, and Sexual Risk Behavior in Men Who Have Sex With Men

Abstract

Considerable public health literature focuses on relationships between problematic human characteristics (e.g., psychopathology) and unhealthy behaviors. A recent movement termed positive psychology emphasizes the advantages of assessing relationships between human strengths (e.g., altruism) and beneficial health behaviors. The present study assessed social responsibility, an orientation to help or protect others even when there is nothing to be gained as an individual, and its relationship to HIV-relevant behaviors. In our sample of 350 men who have sex with men (MSM), social responsibility was negatively correlated with substance use and HIV risk behaviors. Men who had been tested for HIV and knew their HIV status-a behavior that helps men protect their partners but does not protect themselves from the virus-also scored higher in social responsibility. Interventions designed to reduce HIV risk behavior in MSM may benefit from efforts to promote human strengths.

Psicologia Positiva e Transtornos Relacionados a Substâncias Psicoativas: Uma Revisão Integrativa

“…Estudos que não têm como Objetivo Principal a Relação entre a Psicologia Positiva e o Uso de Substâncias Psicoativas Os outros seis artigos tratam da relação entre Psicologia Positiva e o uso de substâncias psicoativas apenas em seus objetivos secundários. São abordados construtos de felicidade (Bergsma et al, 2011), esperança, resiliência e apoio familiar (Li et al, 2015), responsabilidade social (Martin et al, 2014), espiritualidade (Barton & Miller, 2015;Choi et al, 2020) e forças de caráter (Ma et al, 2008). Ressaltam-se os estudos de Bergsma et al (2011), Barton e Miller (2015) e Choi et al (2020) pelo número significativo da amostra.…”

“…Uma questão menos favorável dos estudos encontrados é o conceito muito amplo de Psicologia Positiva que aparece por vezes nos artigos. Enquanto muitas pesquisas têm um conceito bem definido e referenciado, como, por exemplo, os estudos de Harris et al (2012, e Barton e Miller (2015), outros estudos apresentam conceitos superficiais do campo, como vemos em Martin et al (2014), o qual utiliza apenas o construto da responsabilidade social e no estudo de Li et al (2015) que desenvolve o tema de maneira bastante breve.…”

“…O estudo teórico de Galanter ( 2007) limita-se a discorrer sobre o construto da espiritualidade apenas no âmbito do tratamento dos Alcoólicos Anônimos. Também, neste contexto, a pesquisa de Martin et al (2014) se mostra bastante restrita ao relacionar a responsabilidade social e comportamento sexual de risco ao uso de substâncias psicoativas de uma maneira pouco aprofundada.…”

Use of the Internet to Meet Sexual Partners, Sexual Risk Behavior, and Mental Health in Transgender Adults

“…Because multiple factors can influence sexual behaviors, a sequential (hierarchical) logistic regression analysis was conducted to determine independent associations between using the internet to find sexual partners and risk after controlling for demographic variables and variables known to be associated with risk (e.g., use of substances in conjunction with sexual activity) (Martin, Benotsch, Cejka, & Luckman, 2014). This analysis was conducted with transgender women only because of the findings from the univariate analyses showing a relationship between use of the internet to meet partners and sexual risk behavior.…”

Intervention Fidelity and Facilitator Training

“…These moves away from a traditional deficit-focused approach to reduce health-risk behaviors view youth as a “resource to be developed, not problems to be solved” (Resnick, 2008, p. 144), working to cultivate internal and external resources such as competence, character, confidence, caring, and connection (Lerner, Almerigi, Theokas, & Lerner, 2005; McLaughlin, Irby, & Langman, 1994). Thus, positive psychology and positive youth development have been applied to help youths who use substances (Bonell et al, 2016) and young men who have sex with men who engage in risky sexual behaviors (Martin, Benotsch, Cejka, & Luckman, 2014). In addition, studies based on principles and strategies of positive psychology and positive youth development provide evidence that supportive relationships, resources, and opportunities help to reduce health-risk behaviors in youths, including youths in populations traditionally characterized by risk, such as the homeless (Dang, 2014; Dang & Miller, 2013).…”