The Sexual Superhighway Revisited : A Qualitative Analysis of Gay Men's Perceived Repercussions of Connecting in Cyberspace

K. Engler, L. Frigault, A. Léobon, Lévy. J.

Among gay men, serious health risks (unsafe sex, compulsivity) are associated with seeking sex on the Internet. To better understand the repercussions of this activity from a user's perspective, qualitative interviews with 22 gay men reporting Internet use for sexual purposes were submitted to Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The repercussions perceived clustered around themes of sociability (making contact and meeting consequences), sexuality (discovering and deviating), identity (becoming and concealing), and dependency. Findings may help improve the relevance and appeal of online interventions with gay men and sensitize professionals to health issues not traditionally reported in the scientific and clinical literature on gay men and Internet use.[Copies are available from: Haworth Document Delivery Center. The Haworth Press, Inc., 10 Alice Street, Binghamton, NY 13904-1580, USA]