Sexually Explicit Online Media and Sexual Risk Among Men Who Have Sex with Men in the United States

This study aimed to describe sexually explicit online media (SEOM) consumption among men who have sex with men (MSM) in the United States and examine associations between exposure to unprotected anal intercourse (UAI) in SEOM and engagement in both UAI and serodiscordant UAI. MSM in the U.S. who accessed a men-seeking-men website in the past year (N = 1,170) were recruited online for a cross-sectional, Internet-based survey of sexual risk and SEOM consumption. In the 3 months prior to interview, more than half (57 %) of the men reported viewing SEOM one or more times per day and almost half (45 %) reported that at least half of the SEOM they viewed portrayed UAI. Compared to participants who reported that 0-24 % of the SEOM they viewed showed UAI, participants who reported that 25-49, 50-74, or 75-100 % of the SEOM they viewed portrayed UAI had progressively increasing odds of engaging in UAI and serodiscordant UAI in the past 3 months. As SEOM has become more ubiquitous and accessible, research should examine causal relations between SEOM consumption and sexual risk-taking among MSM as well as ways to use SEOM for HIV prevention.