The focus of this proposed 42-month, qualitative renewal project (competing continuation) is to extend our on-going research Club Drugs, Dance Events and Asian American Youth (CDA) by focusing specifically on Asian American men who have sex with men (AAMSM). Patterns of heightened levels of drug use among MSM (compared to their heterosexual peers) in the CDA project lead us to focus on this sub-population as one of particular concern. Although this renewal project will build on our existing research, and will specifically compare drug using patterns and processes with the CDA parent project, the proposed project is a separate endeavor with a significant change in focus. We will focus on the following research questions: 1.) What are the patterns, variations and combinations of club drug use among AAMSM and how do they compare with the larger Asian American sample in the CDA project? 2.) What are the social processes of club drug use, including initiation, motivation, rituals, and perceptions among young AAMSM in the club/party scenes in the San Francisco Bay Area? 3.) What is the relationship between young AAMSM club-drug use and HIV/sexual risk behaviors? 4.) What are the various social contexts in which young AAMSM use club drugs and how do these contribute to patterns of drug use and risky behavior 5.) What is the relationship between constructions of sexual and ethnic identities and drug-use or sexual-risk practices and beliefs? We will locate and interview 240 young AAMSM, age 18-30, who have used one or more club drugs, three or more times in the previous 6 months. The sample will be subdivided into 1/3 foreign-born and 2/3 American-born AAMSM. We have also established flexible recruitment targets for respondents on the basis of the ethnonational composition of the San Francisco Bay Area Asian American population as a whole. However, after an initial mapping of participation in the scene, the sampling frame will be modified to reflect the population of AAMSM involved in the club scene. We will use primarily qualitative methods, including ethnographic observation, and key-informant and in-depth interviewing. Interviews will include a structured questionnaire to gather sociodemographic and key quantitative data, and an open-ended, semi-structured schedule to provide detailed narrative information. Analysis will consist of mixed methods appropriate to the various types of data collected. This project is important because Asian American MSM are an understudied population, and one that may be at great risk for both drug use and for HIV/sexually transmitted infections. The project can contribute to existing research through its analysis of intersections of ethnicity, sexuality, and drug consumption and its emphases on culture, identity, and social context - all understudied issues in the extant literature.
This qualitative research project will provide much-needed empirical information about the extent and social context of club drug use by young Asian American men who have sex with men (MSM). Findings from this project will provide information regarding the relationships between their drug use, their identities as young Asian American men, and their sexual identities, sexual practices, and risks of exposure to HIV. This study's findings will be published in forms appropriate for the following audiences: people who work in drug abuse and HIV treatment, prevention and intervention programs;social scientists;and clinicians and other representatives from the broader biomedical community.
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