Risk and protective factors for HIV of Portuguese men in Southeastern Massachusetts who have sex with men (MSM): A phenomenological study

This phenomenological study seeks to identify the risk and protective factors for HIV of Portuguese men who live in Southeastern Massachusetts who have sex with men (MSM). The literature review herein describes research on specific sub groups of MSM such as African American, Latino and Pacific Asian Islanders. However, there is little if any research on Portuguese MSM, particularly those who live in Massachusetts. The importance of identifying risk and protective factors is to use this knowledge to inform prevention interventions to these populations.;This study sought to answer three research questions. These questions were: R1: What are the lived experiences of Portuguese MSM in Southeastern Massachusetts? R2: What are the risk and protective factor themes for HIV of Portuguese MSM living in Southeastern Massachusetts that emerge in this study? R3: Do the risk and protective factors for HIV that emerge in this study differ from those of other ethnic groups? Or, will the themes that emerge be similar to other MSM of color?;A total of 8 study participants were recruited to participate in two, in-depth interviews which resulted in nearly 700 pages of transcripts. These transcripts were reviewed multiple times and the recurring themes of the men were grouped into a total of 12 Core Themes. These themes are: • Strong Portuguese Identification; • Strong Gay Identification; • Importance of Portuguese Family Connection; • Relationships with "Straight" Men and Public Sex Environments; • Fully Coming Out; • Changing Relationship with Father; • Relationship with the Roman Catholic Church and Search for Spirituality; • Using the Internet to Seek Partners; • Desire for Long Term, Monogamous Relationships; • Sexual Impulsivity; • Substance Use; • Geography of Citizenship and Ability to Live Openly as Gay.;These themes were then identified as either risk or protective and then examined against other MSM of color. Using Sexual Script Theory as developed by Gagnon and Simon (1973), the themes were grouped into the dominant spheres of Cultural Scripts, Interpersonal Scripts and Intrapsychic Scripts. The majority of the themes appeared in Cultural Scripts with the second most frequent grouping under Interpersonal Scripts. It appears that the sexual scripts of Portuguese MSM are much more externally based than internally focused.