caa a22 4500 606231250 CHVBK 20210128101219.0 cr unu---uuuuu 210128e20151001xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s10508-014-0369-0 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s10508-014-0369-0 Garnering an In-depth Understanding of Men Who Have Sex with Men in Chennai, India: A Qualitative Analysis of Sexual Minority Status and Psychological Distress [Elektronische Daten] [Matthew Mimiaga, Elizabeth Closson, Beena Thomas, Kenneth Mayer, Theresa Betancourt, Sunil Menon, Steven Safren] Men who have sex with men (MSM) in India are a hidden and largely understudied population, and have an HIV prevalence 17 times higher than that of the general Indian population. Experiences of social marginalization and negative psychosocial conditions occur concurrent to HIV risk among Indian MSM. To better understand the contextual variables driving HIV risk and inform intervention development, five focus groups (n=46) and nine key informant interviews were conducted with 55 MSM in Chennai in 2010. NVivo software was used to code the transcripts, and data were analyzed using qualitative descriptive analysis methodology. Participants described sources of psychological distress and low self-worth related to gender non-conformity and sexual minority status. These included stigma from society, pressure to marry, lack of familial acceptance, childhood sexual abuse, and the imperative to keep sexual minority status a secret. Participants' personal evaluations revealed that self-acceptance may be an important resilience factor that can shield these psychosocial and HIV risk factors. In promoting health-seeking behavioral changes for Indian MSM at an individual level, our findings point to the potential strength of strategies that focus on self-acceptance of one's sexual minority identity to foster better psychosocial and overall health. Springer Science+Business Media New York, 2014 HIV nationallicence Men who have sex with men nationallicence Gay men nationallicence Bisexual men nationallicence Sexual orientation nationallicence Stigma nationallicence Mimiaga Matthew Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital, Behavioral Medicine, 1 Bowdoin Square, 7th Floor, 02114, Boston, MA, USA aut Closson Elizabeth The Fenway Institute, Fenway Health, Boston, MA, USA aut Thomas Beena National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis, Chennai, India aut Mayer Kenneth The Fenway Institute, Fenway Health, Boston, MA, USA aut Betancourt Theresa Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA aut Menon Sunil Sahodaran, Chennai, India aut Safren Steven Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital, Behavioral Medicine, 1 Bowdoin Square, 7th Floor, 02114, Boston, MA, USA aut Archives of Sexual Behavior Springer US; http://www.springer-ny.com 44/7(2015-10-01), 2077-2086 0004-0002 44:7<2077 2015 44 10508 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-014-0369-0 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-014-0369-0 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Mimiaga Matthew Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital, Behavioral Medicine, 1 Bowdoin Square, 7th Floor, 02114, Boston, MA, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Closson Elizabeth The Fenway Institute, Fenway Health, Boston, MA, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Thomas Beena National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis, Chennai, India aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Mayer Kenneth The Fenway Institute, Fenway Health, Boston, MA, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Betancourt Theresa Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Menon Sunil Sahodaran, Chennai, India aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Safren Steven Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital, Behavioral Medicine, 1 Bowdoin Square, 7th Floor, 02114, Boston, MA, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Archives of Sexual Behavior Springer US; http://www.springer-ny.com 44/7(2015-10-01), 2077-2086 0004-0002 44:7<2077 2015 44 10508