"Truth or Dare?": Sexual Networks, Friendship Networks, and Risk Behavior in an Informal Gay Group

Recent large studies of homosexual men have found specific sexual practices to be primary risk factors for seroconversion (Penkower et al. 1991). However, these practical risk factors have been found to be enhanced by heavy drinking, moderate to heavy drug use, and youth through an association with increased sexual contacts, increased frequency of anonymous sex, and failure to use condoms. However, it is difficult to determine whether seroconversion is due to additional immune parameters (other than CD4+ Cells), anxiety, poor nutrition, drug or alcohol induced risk behaviors, the influences of social support, or some combination (ibid). These larger epidemiological studies have contributed much to a general understanding of the association between risk behaviors and seroconversion, but have contributed little to our understanding of the underlying social processes associated with the observed relationships among variables.