Personal communities and safer sex: a qualitative study of young gay and bisexual men in Scotland

Background: Successful HIV prevention efforts among gay men have been linked to strong ‘community’ responses to HIV and adherence to safer sex practices. Research has found that gay men are increasingly ambivalent about ‘gay communities’, leading some to suggest that using the lens of ‘personal communities’ (PCs) may offer a more useful way of exploring gay men’s personal and social relationships. This qualitative research study set out to explore young gay and bisexual men’s PCs, and the role people within them may play in shaping men’s understandings of, and approach to, ‘safer sex’. Methods: The findings of this qualitative study are based on data drawn from 30 semi-structured interviews with young (aged 18-29) gay and bisexual men living in Scotland. Spencer and Pahl’s (2006) method of exploring PCs using ‘affective maps’ was applied. Two interconnected phases of analysis were conducted: 1) analysis of the ‘maps’ developed by participants; and 2) thematic analysis of interview data using principles of the Framework approach. Findings: The findings suggest that men’s PCs are complex and diverse. Patterns were observed in terms of overall composition of the men’s PCs. Many of the men had ‘mixed’ friendship groups in terms of gender and sexual orientation. Although the men’s PCs were not wholly shaped by connection to ‘gay communities’, men nevertheless articulated the importance of support around safer sex from their gay male friends. Understandings of safer sex were based primarily on the need to protect against sexual infection. A novel finding was that some men framed safer sex as the need to protect against non-sexual risks. Men drew on a range of resources, from within their PCs, gay communities, and beyond, in developing understandings of safer sex. Social norms of condom use among the men’s PCs shaped men’s responses to risk in sex, specifically their approach to condom use. Consistent condom use with new and casual partners was framed as ‘normal’, however