Identity and Relational Factors Associated with Sexual Role and Positioning for Anal Sex among Colombian Sexual Minority Men

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to identify Top, Bottom, and Versatile sexual role identities and anal sex behavior profiles using latent class analysis in a sample of 942 sexual minority men living in Bogotá. A Versatile-insertive and receptive class (52.2%) was the most prevalent of the four resulting classes, whereas the least common was a class (1.7%) that did not use labels and had a low probability of anal sex. We examined whether identity and relational factors (i.e., sexual orientation, LGBT collective identity, and partner type) were associated with profiles. Gay identity was associated with versatile and receptive classes and bisexual identity was associated with insertive and versatile classes. LGBT collective identity was associated with the class characterized by Bottom identity and receptive positioning. Partner type was not associated with class membership, but versatile behaviors were more common among encounters with a main partner. Models using data at different timescales offered consistent patterns of behavior between the last encounter and the past three months, though the versatile class in the three-month model split into two classes based on frequency of versatile positioning. Findings highlight the relationship between sexual identity and positioning and can inform interventions for sexual health education and identity development.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to express their gratitude to participants for their generous contributions to the study as well as the Executive Director and project staff at the Liga Colombiana de Lucha contra el SIDA. An additional thanks to George W. Howe, Ph.D. who provided consultation on the statistical analyses.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This project was funded by Award Number R01HD057785 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of NICHD or NIH. During the preparation of this article, the authors also received support from the District of Colombia Center for AIDS Research (DC CFAR; P30AI117970).