Relationships among HIV risk beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors in sexually active, seronegative gay men.

Safer-sex guidelines established during the early days of the HIV/AIDS epidemic have undergone very little revision despite some controversy. Although these guidelines have been widely disseminated in the gay community, many gay men continue to engage in behaviors that are believed to put them at high risk for transmission of HIV. This suggests either that they have not accepted safer-sex guidelines as accurate or that other factors override personal implementation of the guidelines. The study examined seronegative gay men's beliefs about the accuracy of safer sex guidelines and the men's participation in behaviors risky for transmitting HIV. The greatest disagreement between the men's beliefs and behaviors centered on the risk of oral intercourse; this suggests a need for clarification of the safer sex message about this behavior. The findings of this study support the need to reformulate safer-sex guidelines. When unprotected oral and anal sex are classified at the same level of risk, those who engage in unprotected oral sex may proceed to unprotected anal sex with less reservation.