Feasibility of an Emotion Regulation Intervention to Improve Mental Health and Reduce HIV Transmission Risk Behaviors for HIV-Positive Gay and Bisexual Men with Sexual Compulsivity

• Published in: AIDS and behavior Vol. 21; no. 6; pp. 1540 - 1549
• Main Authors: Parsons, Jeffrey T., Rendina, H. Jonathon, Moody, Raymond L., Gurung, Sitaji, Starks, Tyrel J., Pachankis, John E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.06.2017; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Acquired immune deficiency syndrome; Adult; AIDS; Anxiety; Behavior modification; Bisexuality; Bisexuality - psychology; Bisexuality - statistics & numerical data; Cognitive therapy; Compulsions; Compulsive Behavior; Disease transmission; Disorders; Drug abuse; Emotional regulation; Emotions; Gays & lesbians; Health behavior; Health problems; Health Psychology; Health risks; HIV; HIV Infections - prevention & control; HIV Infections - transmission; HIV Seropositivity - psychology; Homosexuality; Homosexuality, Male - psychology; Homosexuality, Male - statistics & numerical data; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Infectious Diseases; Intervention; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Men; Mens health; Mental depression; Mental disorders; Mental Health; Middle Aged; Original Paper; Psychological distress; Public Health; Risk behavior; Risk taking; Sexual Partners; Sexually transmitted diseases; STD; Substance-Related Disorders - psychology; Treatment methods; HIV-positive; Gay and bisexual men; Sexual compulsivity; Mental health; Cognitive behavioral therapy
• ISSN: 1090-7165; 1573-3254
• DOI: 10.1007/s10461-016-1533-4

Gay and bisexual men (GBM) report high rates of sexual compulsivity (SC), yet no empirically based treatments exist. An intervention based on the Unified Protocol for the Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders was pilot tested in a sample of 13 HIV-positive GBM with SC. Participants completed a baseline interview, and were offered up to ten intervention sessions. Of those, 11 completed a 3-month follow-up assessment. Despite problems with session attendance (only 4 men completed all 10 sessions), improvements were observed in all psychological outcomes, including SC, depression, and anxiety. Decreases were observed in drug use and HIV risk. The Unified Protocol may be useful in improving the health of HIV-positive GBM, however challenges with session attendance must be addressed. Future work should consider if fewer sessions produce similar results, whether barriers to attending all sessions could be alleviated, and how the intervention would perform compared to treatments.