Sexual sensation seeking, sexual compulsivity, and high-risk sexual behaviours among gay/bisexual men in Southwest China

ABSTRACT

High-risk sexual behaviours (HRSBs), such as having male casual sexual partners (MCSPs) and unprotected anal intercourse (UAI), are combined with a high prevalence of HIV infection among gay/bisexual men. Sexual sensation seeking (SSS) and sexual compulsivity (SC), which are intrapersonal factors, were observed to have associations with HRSB among gay/bisexual men in Western nations. The aim of the study was to examine the relationships between SSS, SC, socio-demographic factors, and HRSB (defined as having MCSP and UAI with MCSP) among self-identified gay and bisexual men in Southwest China. The study was cross-sectional, with a sample of 436 respondents. And their mean age was 24.5 years. The results confirmed that SSS, SC, and sexual attitude are associated with both having MCSP and UAI with MCSP in the Chinese cultural context, among the subgroup of men who have sex with men. Being older, not a student, and having transactional sex in the last 6 months were independently associated with having MCSP. Lower educational level, unemployed, having a relationship with a man, and an unsure HIV status were independently associated with UAI with MCSP. This study indicates that SSS and SC are cross-cultural personality traits related to HRSB. The results of this study may shed light on HIV prevention among gay/bisexual men in China.

KEYWORDS:

• Sexual sensation seeking
• sexual compulsivity
• high-risk sexual behaviour
• gay and bisexual men
• unprotected anal intercourse

Acknowledgments

We wish to thank all of the participants of this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the MOE Project of Key Research Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences at Universities, China [grant number 15JJDZONGHE022].