Neg: The experience of HIV risk in the developmental process of HIV-negative gay men during young adulthood

The complex issues involved in sustaining an HIV-negative status for gay men during young adulthood are in need of ongoing examination as we evolve through different evolutionary phases of the AIDS epidemic. There is a paucity of research which systematically examines how HIV-negative men define and understand themselves in relation to the AIDS epidemic. Preventing HIV transmission and AIDS makes understanding their experience imperative.;This current study explores the psychological dynamics of eight HIV-negative gay men in young adulthood, between the ages of 18 and 35, interviewed in two sessions using Moustakas' heuristic methodology. Specifically, this research explores the way HIV-negative gay men construct and understand their lives (identities, desires, conflicts, and behaviors) and experience and negotiate risk. It provides data of the experience of HIV-negative gay men from the perspective of the central developmental task of integration characterizing the stage of young adulthood, according to Erik Erikson's Theory of Psychosocial Development.;Drawing on the material gathered from in-depth interviews, the data is presented according to the heuristic method: individual depictions, exemplary portraits, composite themes and a creative synthesis. Implications for clinical theory and practice in psychology, public health and education in HIV/AIDS prevention are considered with a view to supporting efforts to enhance young gay men's ability to prevent HIV transmission and AIDS infection.