ArticlePloS one2023
"They have their own people": Emotional connections, community belonging, and Chinese gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) college students' needs for sexual health support.
Article in PloS one, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.
- Attitudes of Family Physicians in Southern Israel Toward Transgender Individuals: Comparison Between Senior Physicians and Residents.Archives of sexual behavior · 2026Article
- An Exploration of Resilience-Enabling Behaviors and Practices Among Young Latino Sexual Minority Men to Address Intersectional Stigma Experiences and Reduce Their HIV Risk: A Positive Deviance Approach.AIDS education and prevention : official publication of the International Society for AIDS Education · 2025Article
- Analysis of Factors Influencing the Acceptance of Voluntary Counseling and Testing Among Sexually Active College Students in Zhejiang Province, China.HIV/AIDS (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2025Article
- Differences in HIV-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors among men who have sex with men (MSM): comparison between HIV-positive and HIV-negative college students.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) college students in China have unique sexual health challenges, including a higher risk of HIV infection, stigma and discrimination against LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) population, and limited access to LGBTQ-affirmative sexual health support. Nonetheless, previous research or policymaking has rarely addressed the students' needs for sexual health support from their perspectives. This study aims to explore GBMSM college students' perceptions and attitudes to current sexual health resources, the challenges they encounter, and their expectations to acquiring LGBTQ-affirmative sexual health information and services. The exploration was carried out through field visits and in-depth interviews with 26 GBMSM college students and eight relevant stakeholders in five cities in China. Qualitative thematic analysis was applied to the interview transcripts and fieldwork memos. Four themes emerged around the preference and needs of GBMSM students in dealing with their sexual health challenges: the association between tackling sexual health challenges and entering LGBTQ communities, the roles of emotional attachment in shaping the preference for HIV-related care and support, the desired modes of acquiring sexual health support, and the current unmet service needs. We discovered that the information-and-care-seeking behaviors of GBMSM college students are highly influenced by and connected to their participation in online and in-person LGBTQ communities. Due to the overall stigmatizing sociocultural environment of LGBTQ in China, GBMSM college students tend to rely on LGBTQ communities, seeking trust and a sense of belongingness for tackling their sexual health challenges. Conventional school-based sexual health educational programs, which often apply top-down, stigma-and-fear-based, and non-LGBTQ-inclusive teaching strategies, rarely help GBMSM college students to solve sexual health problems in real life. GBMSM college students are eager to have LGBTQ-affirmative "health managers" who can understand their emotional experiences and interpersonal contexts and assist them with sexual health issues. However, such support is generally perceived as limited by the students. Our study highlights these unmet needs of the GBMSM students and emphasizes the importance of developing future LGBTQ-affirmative sexual health programs among Chinese GBMSM college students and young GBMSM in general.
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