RESEARCH ARTICLE
Toward a Better Understanding of Non-Addicted, Methamphetamine-Using, Men who Have Sex with Men (MSM) in Atlanta
Brian J Dew*
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2010Volume: 4
First Page: 141
Last Page: 147
Publisher ID: TOAIDJ-4-141
DOI: 10.2174/1874613601004030141
Article History:
Received Date: 1/10/2009Revision Received Date: 15/11/2009
Acceptance Date: 25/11/2009
Electronic publication date: 14/5/2010
Collection year: 2010
open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.
Abstract
Methamphetamine use has increasingly become linked with sexual risk behaviors among men have sex with men (MSM). Yet, the majority of research has been done with methamphetamine dependent MSM or with samples in which addiction to the substance was not evaluated. Furthermore, research with methamphetamine-using MSM in the Southern U.S. is lacking. In this study, focus groups and in-depth interviews were conducted in order to understand the motives, context, and other facilitators and barriers of methamphetamine use among non-addicted MSM residing in Atlanta. Participants included 30 non-addicted, methamphetamine-using MSM and 16 local mental and public health officials. Findings from the first of this two-phase formative research project will result in the initial development of a community-tested, culturally-specific social marketing campaign and an individual-based intervention based in HIV-testing facilities.
