Parental influence, gay youths, and safer sex

To begin to understand the role that family relationships and interactions play in young gay men's decisions to avoid unsafe sexual practices, parents and sons (ages 16 to 25) in 30 families were qualitatively interviewed about issues and concerns related to HIV risk. Most of the youths reported feeling obliged to their parents to stay healthy, and these feelings of obligation were important factors in their decisions to avoid unsafe sex. Youths who reported no parental influence came from families in which parents had historically been preoccupied with personal or marital problems or in which there was a history of parental rejection. On the basis of these exploratory findings, AIDS prevention specialists are advised to recruit parents, assess family relationships, and facilitate parent-child communication in their efforts to encourage gay youths to consistently engage in safer sex practices.