Asexuality: Classification and characterization

This is a post-print version of the article. The official published version can be obtaineed at the link below.The term “asexual” has been defined in many different ways and asexuality has received very little research attention. In a small qualitative study (N = 4), individuals who self-identified as asexual were interviewed to help formulate hypotheses for a larger study. The second larger study was an online survey drawn from a convenience sample designed to better characterize asexuality and to test predictors of asexual identity. A convenience sample of 1,146 individuals (N = 41 self-identified asexual) completed online questionnaires assessing sexual history, sexual inhibition and excitation, sexual desire, and an open-response questionnaire concerning asexual identity. Asexuals reported significantly less desire for sex with a partner, lower sexual arousability, and lower sexual excitation but did not differ consistently from non-asexuals in their sexual inhibition scores or their desire to masturbate. Content analyses supported the idea that low sexual desire is the primary feature predicting asexual identity

A Syndemic of Psychosocial Problems Places the MSM (Men Who Have Sex with Men) Population at Greater Risk of HIV Infection

Background: The MSM (Men who have sex with men) population suffers from very high rates of concurrent psychosocial problems. Together, these problems comprise a syndemic that increases the risk of HIV infection for this community. The precise mechanisms through which this syndemic can raise the likelihood of HIV infection warrant further exploration. Methodology/Principal Findings: A total of 522 MSM were enrolled via a multiframe sampling approach and were asked to report psychosocial problems, risky sexual behaviors and HIV test results. A count of psychosocial health problems was calculated to test the additive relationship of these factors on HIV risk. Adjusting analysis and restriction analysis were used to determine a proposed intermediate pathway. Psychosocial health problems are highly concurrent and intercorrelated among urban MSM. Greater numbers of health problems are significantly and positively associated with HIV infection, which is mediated, at least partially, by risky sexual behaviors. Conclusions/Significance: MSM experience concurrent psychosocial health problems that correlate with HIV infection in this community. We recommend the development of coping strategies for this population to deal with these psychosocial problems, both in prevention research and health policy

Creating comprehensive, youth-centered culturally appropriate sex education: What do young gay, bisexual and questioning men want?

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/106604/1/Creating comprehensive, youth-centered culturally appropriate sex education What do young gay, bisexual and questioning men want.pd

Developing Resilience: Gay Men’s Response to Systemic Discrimination

Gay men experience marked health disparities compared to heterosexual men, associated with profound discrimination. Resilience as a concept has received growing attention to increase understanding about how gay men promote and protect their health in the presence of adversity. Missing in this literature are the perspectives and experiences of gay men over 40 years. This investigation, drawing on grounded theory methods, examined how gay men over 40 years of age develop resilience over the course of their lives to promote and protect their health. In-depth interviews were undertaken with 25 men ranging between 40 and 76 years of age who experienced an array of health concerns including depression, anxiety, suicidality, and HIV. Men actively resist discrimination via three interrelated protective processes that dynamically influence the development of resilience over their life course: (a) building and sustaining networks, (b) addressing mental health, and (c) advocating for respectful care encounters. Initiatives to promote and protect the health of gay men must be rooted in the recognition of the systemic role of discrimination, while supporting men’s resilience in actively resisting discrimination

Homosexual Women Have Less Grey Matter in Perirhinal Cortex than Heterosexual Women

Is sexual orientation associated with structural differences in the brain? To address this question, 80 homosexual and heterosexual men and women (16 homosexual men and 15 homosexual women) underwent structural MRI. We used voxel-based morphometry to test for differences in grey matter concentration associated with gender and sexual orientation. Compared with heterosexual women, homosexual women displayed less grey matter bilaterally in the temporo-basal cortex, ventral cerebellum, and left ventral premotor cortex. The relative decrease in grey matter was most prominent in the left perirhinal cortex. The left perirhinal area also showed less grey matter in heterosexual men than in heterosexual women. Thus, in homosexual women, the perirhinal cortex grey matter displayed a more male-like structural pattern. This is in accordance with previous research that revealed signs of sex-atypical prenatal androgenization in homosexual women, but not in homosexual men. The relevance of the perirhinal area for high order multimodal (olfactory and visual) object, social, and sexual processing is discussed

The Use of Sexually Explicit Internet Material and Its Antecedents: A Longitudinal Comparison of Adolescents and Adults

An implicit assumption in research on adolescents’ use of sexually explicit internet material (SEIM) is that they may feel more attracted to such material than adults, given the “forbidden” character of SEIM for minors. However, systematic comparisons between adolescents’ and adults’ SEIM use and of its antecedents are missing. We conducted a two-wave panel survey among a nationally representative sample of 1,445 Dutch adolescents and a nationally representative sample of 833 Dutch adults. Adolescents’ and adults’ SEIM use was similar. When significant differences in the SEIM use occurred, they indicated that adults used SEIM more often than adolescents. Male adults were the most frequent users of SEIM. No difference in the antecedent structure of SEIM use emerged between adolescents and adults. In both groups, males, sensation seekers, as well as people with a not exclusively heterosexual orientation used SEIM more often. Among adolescents and adults, lower life satisfaction increased SEIM use. Our findings suggest that the frequency of SEIM use and its antecedents are largely the same among adolescents and adults

Sexual attraction, sexual identity, and psychosocial well-being in a national sample of young women during emerging adulthood.

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/106627/1/Sexual attraction, sexual identity, and psychosocial well-being in a national sample of young women during emerging adulthood.pd

Individual differences in puberty onset in girls: Bayesian estimation of heritabilities and genetic correlations

We report heritabilities for individual differences in female pubertal development at the age of 12. Tanner data on breast and pubic hair development in girls and data on menarche were obtained from a total of 184 pairs of monozygotic and dizygotic twins. Genetic correlations were estimated to determine to what extent the same genes are involved in different aspects of physical development in puberty. A Bayesian estimation approach was taken, using Markovchain Monte Carlo simulation to estimate model parameters. All three phenotypes were to a significant extent heritable and showed high genetic correlations, suggesting that a common set of genes is involved in the timing of puberty in general. However, gonadarche (menarche and breast development) and adrenarche (pubic hair) are affected by different environmental factors, which does not support the three phenotypes to be regarded as indicators of a unitary physiological factor. © 2006 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc

Genome-wide association study of male sexual orientation

Family and twin studies suggest that genes play a role in male sexual orientation. We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of male sexual orientation on a primarily European ancestry sample of 1,077 homosexual men and 1,231 heterosexual men using Affymetrix single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays. We identified several SNPs with p < 10 -5 , including regions of multiple supporting SNPs on chromosomes 13 (minimum p = 7.5 × 10 -7 ) and 14 (p = 4.7 × 10 -7 ). The genes nearest to these peaks have functions plausibly relevant to the development of sexual orientation. On chromosome 13, SLITRK6 is a neurodevelopmental gene mostly expressed in the diencephalon, which contains a region previously reported as differing in size in men by sexual orientation. On chromosome 14, TSHR genetic variants in intron 1 could conceivably help explain past findings relating familial atypical thyroid function and male homosexuality. Furthermore, skewed X chromosome inactivation has been found in the thyroid condition, Graves' disease, as well as in mothers of homosexual men. On pericentromeric chromosome 8 within our previously reported linkage peak, we found support (p = 4.1 × 10 -3 ) for a SNP association previously reported (rs77013977, p = 7.1 × 10 -8 ), with the combined analysis yielding p = 6.7 × 10 -9 , i.e., a genome-wide significant association