Psychological characteristics associated with chemsex among men who have sex with men: Internalized homophobia, conscientiousness and serostatus as predictive factors

Abstract

BackgroundAlthough significant progress has been made in the rights of the LGBTQ+ community, even today this population still faces stigma and discrimination that impacts their mental health. In the case of men who have sex with men, it has been demonstrated that the use of drugs in a sexual context (chemsex) is one of the coping mechanisms and means of escape to deal with these situations. MethodWe assessed 284 native Spanish speakers’ participants, 45,4 % were not engaged in sexualised drug use (n = 129) while 54,6 % were chemsex users (n = 155) using 18,7 % of them the injected via. The participants completed six questionnaires about life and sexual satisfaction, depression, anxiety, internalised homophobia and personality. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression were performed to assess the associations between sexual behaviour-related and psychological variables. Kruskal-Wallis H test was used to analysed the impact on mental health of the administration via. ResultsAged, unprotected sexual relationships, positive serostatus, homonegativity and conscientiousness predicted the chemsex engagement. Furthermore, we found differences regarding the administration via. ConclusionsWe conclude that mental health significantly correlates with the practice of chemsex, highlighting the importance of integrating mental health considerations into the prevention of risky sexual behaviors.