HIV Optimism and High-Risk Sexual Behavior in Two Cohorts of Men Who Have Sex With Men

[para. 1]: “Men who have sex with men (MSM) account for 76.3% of the HIV cases in Canada since HIV reporting began in 1985 (Public Health Agency of Canada, 2007). There has been a recent increase in unprotected anal intercourse (UAI) among MSM both in the United States and Canada, which seems to have occurred soon after the advances in antiretroviral therapy (ART; George et al., 2006; Katz et al., 2002; Stolte, Dukers, Geskus, Coutinho, & de Wit, 2004). HIV optimism—the term given for a set of beliefs that ART has made HIV less of a health threat—has been found to be associated with HIV sexual risk behavior among MSM in a recent meta-analysis (Crepaz, Hart, & Marks, 2004), as well as in other studies on MSM (e.g., Cox, Beauchemin, & Allard, 2004; Peterson & Bakeman, 2006).”