Author: George Washington University
Author Contact: gwu.edu
Published: 13th Nov 2022 - Updated: 5th Jan 2023
Peer-Reviewed Publication: Yes
Additional References: HIV and Aids Publications
Summary: Online toolkit helps parents improve communication with gay and bisexual sons about behaviors to help them stay healthy.
Effects of a Parent-Focused HIV Prevention Intervention for Young Men Who Have Sex with Men
A first-of-a-kind study published today suggests that parents can be taught to communicate with their gay or bisexual sons about safe sex. And even better, this study found that parents in the intervention group talked to their sons more about condoms and HIV and engaged in other parenting behaviors to keep them healthy.
The study is the first to focus on the parents of gay or bisexual sons and the first to show evidence of positive effects in a randomized controlled trial. The new study's results are critical because gay and bisexual youth make up nearly 80% of all HIV infections among teens. Until now, however, there were very few public health interventions aimed at reducing the HIV risk among this group.
"By focusing on the parents, this study shows we might be able to reduce HIV risk among gay and bisexual male youth," David Huebner, Professor of Prevention and Community Health at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University, said. "Parents represent an untapped yet promising resource in preventing HIV infection and improving sexual health among this underserved population."
Huebner and his colleagues recruited 61 parents with sons aged 14-22 who had come out as gay or bisexual at least a month earlier. Half were assigned to the control group; these parents watched a 35-minute documentary to encourage parents to understand better and accept lesbian, gay, or bisexual children.
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The other half of the parents were enrolled in an online program, Parents, and Adolescents Talking about Healthy Sexuality (PATHS). The online program included videos and instructions for parents to improve their communication with a gay or bisexual son about staying healthy and engaging in other parenting behaviors that can help promote sexual health.
Parents in this intervention arm of the study had a to-do list and could opt to take various actions to improve their interactions with their sons about sexual health. Studies show that when parents have more frequent, higher quality conversations about condoms and HIV with their sons, gay or bisexual youth are less likely to engage in sexual behaviors that can put them at risk for HIV, Huebner said.
For example, parents received a sexual fact sheet about HIV risk and could send it to their sons without comment or sit down and review it together. Parents were also tasked with educating their sons about condoms. They could message their sons with an instructional video or demonstrate how to put a condom on a banana.
Parents were also taught about the importance of HIV testing and were guided in how to help their sons obtain an HIV test.
Both at the beginning and the end of the three-month study, parents, and sons were separately surveyed about how much parents engaged in the conversations and behaviors that the toolkit recommended. Both parents and sons independently reported that parents in the intervention arm talked more to their sons about sexual health and helped them learn to use condoms correctly. They also helped their sons get an HIV test.
"To our knowledge, this is the first intervention shown to increase parent behaviors supportive of sexual health for gay or bisexual youth," Huebner said. "The next step is to demonstrate that these changes in parent behaviors translate into better sexual health outcomes for the sons. We think it has great potential to help reduce the high rates of HIV among this vulnerable population."
Huebner and his team recently received additional funding from the National Institute of Mental Health to conduct a larger trial of the intervention. For this study, they will enroll 350 parent-adolescent dyads and follow them for a year to see whether the intervention reduces HIV risk for gay and bisexual young men. Interested families can learn more about the study and sign up to receive updates at parentwithlove.org
The pilot study, "Effects of a Parent-Focused HIV Prevention Intervention for Young Men Who Have Sex with Men," was published in AIDS and Behavior. The research was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health.
Parent Focused HIV Prevention Intervention | George Washington University (gwu.edu). SexualDiversity.org makes no warranties or representations in connection therewith. Content may have been edited for style, clarity or length.
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• (APA): George Washington University. (2022, November 13). Parent Focused HIV Prevention Intervention. SexualDiversity.org. Retrieved February 19, 2025 from www.sexualdiversity.org/sexuality/health/hiv/1081.php
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