Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39407073›Full record

ArticleArchives of sexual behavior2025

Diversity of Chemsex Experiences among Men Who Have Sex with Men: Results from the French ANRS PaacX Study Using Q-Methodology.

Christel Protiere, Abdourahmane Sow, Vincent Estellon, Morgane Bureau, Vincent Leclercq, Muriel Grégoire, Fred Bladou, Bruno Spire, David Michels, Perrine Roux and 1 more

Abstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Archives of sexual behavior, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Christel ProtiereAix-Marseille Univ, Inserm, IRD, U1252 SESSTIM, Sciences Économiques & Sociales de la Santé & Traitementde l'Information Médicale, ISSPAM, 19-21 Bd Jean Moulin, 13005, Marseille, France. christel.protiere@inserm.fr.ORCID 0000-0002-5602-9617
Abdourahmane SowAix-Marseille Univ, Inserm, IRD, U1252 SESSTIM, Sciences Économiques & Sociales de la Santé & Traitementde l'Information Médicale, ISSPAM, 19-21 Bd Jean Moulin, 13005, Marseille, France.
Vincent EstellonInstitut Humanités, Sciences et Sociétés, Université Paris Cité, Paris, France.
Morgane BureauAix-Marseille Univ, Inserm, IRD, U1252 SESSTIM, Sciences Économiques & Sociales de la Santé & Traitementde l'Information Médicale, ISSPAM, 19-21 Bd Jean Moulin, 13005, Marseille, France.
Vincent LeclercqCoalition PLUS, Community-Based Research Laboratory, Paris, France.
Muriel GrégoireCSAPA La Villa Floréal, Aix-en-Provence, France.
Fred BladouAIDES, Paris, France.
Bruno SpireAix-Marseille Univ, Inserm, IRD, U1252 SESSTIM, Sciences Économiques & Sociales de la Santé & Traitementde l'Information Médicale, ISSPAM, 19-21 Bd Jean Moulin, 13005, Marseille, France.
David MichelsAIDES, Paris, France.
Perrine RouxAix-Marseille Univ, Inserm, IRD, U1252 SESSTIM, Sciences Économiques & Sociales de la Santé & Traitementde l'Information Médicale, ISSPAM, 19-21 Bd Jean Moulin, 13005, Marseille, France.
PaacX group

Funding

Agence Nationale de Recherches sur le Sida et les Hépatites Virales ECTZ60228
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Chemsex is mostly approached through the prism of risk-taking, neglecting the pleasure and social linking dimensions. However, feedback from the field and few studies highlights a diversity of chemsex practices and relationships to chemsex (RtC). Using Q-methodology, we identified the main RtC and their divergences and convergences, to help develop tailored prevention and care programs. Q-methodology enables the exploration of complex subjective structures and provides a multifaceted picture of a phenomenon. In 2019-2020, we asked 126 men who have sex with men living in France and practicing chemsex to rank order 37 statements. RtC were defined through by-person factor analysis and interpreted using a holistic process. Five RtC emerged, highlighting various motivations for practicing chemsex, relationships to substance use and to sexuality, and regulation strategies implemented: (1) From compensation to fulfillment; (2) The pleasure-seeking manager; (3) Between addiction and management; (4) From curiosity to the destruction of sexuality; and (5) From the hope of compensation to disillusion. Respondents all agreed on two statements: the need to first accept oneself as a drug user in order to be able to manage drug use, and the possibility of harm reduction during chemsex sessions. Our results are the first to elicit the main RtC and the intricacies between the dimensions at stake. The five analysis-based narratives derived from RtC might facilitate discussion during interviews or support groups on chemsex, and could serve as a standardized survey tool. Our findings advocate longitudinal studies to identify factors associated with shifting from one RtC to another.

Indexed as

Homosexuality, MaleSexual BehaviorAdultChemsexFranceHumansMaleMiddle AgedMotivationPleasureRisk-TakingSubstance-Related DisordersYoung AdultChemsexMen who have sex with menQ-methodologySexualized drug useSexual orientation

Identifiers

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.