Communication by parents is an effective method to reduce the risk of HIV infection in young men, homosexual or bisexual.
- According to Sida Info Service, 4,900 people discovered their HIV positivity in 2020.
- 69% were men.
Young men who have sex with men are at high risk of contracting the AIDS virus. In 2020, they represented 43% of people who discovered their HIV status. Prevention involves associations, the school environment, health professionals, but also the family. According to a recent study published in AIDS and Behaviorparents can learn how to communicate with their sons, homosexual or bisexual, about safer sex, to increase their awareness of the risks of HIV infection.
An experiment on HIV communication carried out with parents of homosexual children
“Studies show that when parents have more frequent and better conversations about condoms and HIV with their sons, gay and bisexual young people are less likely to engage in sexual behaviors that can put them at risk of contracting HIV”recalls one of the authors of the study, David Huebner.
To prove it, the researcher and his colleagues recruited 61 parents whose sons were between the ages of 14 and 22. All had come out. Two groups were created among the participating parents: the first was a control group, the participants watched a 35 min film. The aim was to encourage parents to accept their children, regardless of their sexual orientation.
In the second group, the parents were enrolled in an online program, Parents and Teenagers Talking about Healthy Sexuality (PATHS). It included videos and tutorials for parents to improve their communication with their child, to help them take care of their sexual health. The parents in this group had a to-do list, and they were free to choose different actions to improve their interactions with their sons about sexual health. For example, they were given a sex information sheet on HIV risk and they could either send it to their sons without comment or they could sit down and study it together. Parents also had to show their sons how to use a condom, either by sending them a video link or showing them with a banana. Finally, they had to transmit the information concerning the screening.
Parents, an “untapped resource” for HIV prevention
At the start and end of the study, which lasted three months, parents and sons were interviewed separately. The results of these questionnaires show that in the group that participated in the PATHS program, there were more conversations around sexual health. “By focusing on parents, this study shows we may be able to reduce HIV risk in young gay and bisexual menconcludes David Huebner, professor of prevention and community health at George Washington University. Parents are an untapped but promising resource for preventing HIV infection and improving sexual health.”
In the future, the researcher and his team plan to carry out a larger trial, recruiting parent/child pairs who will be followed for a year, in order to determine whether this type of intervention can concretely reduce the risk of HIV infection among young men who have sex with men.