sex

Sex workers and antiretroviral drugs: U of T public health experts at Canadian Conference on HIV/AIDS

ullahnor — Tue, 04 Apr 2017 20:19:51 +0000

Sex workers and antiretroviral drugs: U of T public health experts at Canadian Conference on HIV/AIDS

ullahnor Tue, 04/04/2017 - 16:19

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In October, a group of 50 women, men and trans people from across Canada who are sex workers or work with sex workers came to U of T’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health for a three-day consultation on PrEP

Nicole Bodnar

Author legacy

Nicole Bodnar

Topic

Global Lens

HIV

Health

Wellness

sex

Dalla Lana School of Public Health

Global

For the first time in North America, public health researchers gathered sex workers and those who work with them to discuss the pros and cons of taking antiretroviral drugs to avoid HIV infection.

The results of that discussion will be presented at the Canadian Conference on HIV/AIDS on Wednesday in Montreal. Back in October, a group of 50 people from across Canada were invited to meet with researchers from U of T’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health for a three-day consultation on the use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) – a way for those who are at risk of HIV infection to reduce that risk by taking antiretroviral drugs.

“Some suggest PrEP is the new condom,” said Dan Allman, assistant professor of social and behavioural health sciences at U of T who is facilitating the Montreal presentation. “While PrEP won’t prevent syphilis, gonorrhea or other sexually transmitted infections, the evidence is strong that despite side-effects, when taken properly, PrEP can work to help prevent individuals from acquiring HIV.”

Allman led the October consultation as part of the project, PrEP in the context of sex work: possibilities and limitations, which was funded by the Elton John AIDS Foundation, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and Gilead Sciences Canada, Inc. He worked with Andrew Sorfleet, president of the Triple-X Workers’ Solidarity Association of B.C. to shape the consultation agenda.

“I found a set of guidelines that suggested people involved in commercial sex should be prescribed PrEP, yet there had been no opportunity for consultation or input from sex workers,” said Sorfleet during his opening remarks at the consultation.

Sex workers are one marginalized group that has inequitable access to health services. Indigenous people, racialized communities and those in the LGBTQ+ community also face equity issues, notably barriers related to access to prevention, care, treatment and support. Many of these issues were discussed during the consultation by people on the front lines, as well as community outreach workers, social service programmers, health-care providers and advocates from more than 20 sex worker-directed organizations and peer-run programs from across Canada.

“It was validating to see how attuned to the health implications, good and bad, our group was,” said Allman, who described the consultation as a form of education and capacity building, not as research.

Allman said that the consultation design was in keeping with the World Health Organization-led Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion because it “started where the people are.”

“It is part of an active movement in global health that recognizes the important work that excluded communities can have in reducing HIV infections through innovative approaches to health, harm and well-being associated with HIV and AIDS,” said Allman.

At the Montreal presentation, the consultation team will premiere a comprehensive report and video, developed for community members as well as public health, policy and research practitioners so that they too can more effectively and respectfully engage sex workers in meaningful dialogue.

Allman is hopeful that through the process and consultation, participants are empowered to take what they learned about HIV prevention and PrEP back to their communities.

The relationship between sexual narcissism and satisfaction: new study from U of T

ullahnor — Tue, 14 Feb 2017 12:54:35 +0000

The relationship between sexual narcissism and satisfaction: new study from U of T

ullahnor Tue, 02/14/2017 - 07:54

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Trio of U of T Mississauga researchers looked at how people view their sex lives in comparison to others (photo by Steve Corey via Flickr)

Elaine Smith

Author legacy

Elaine Smith

Topic

Subheadline

Researchers ask: Is comparison the thief of joy?

If you learned that your next-door neighbours were having sexual relations more frequently than you and your partner, would it bother you?

Three U of T researchers set out to understand how people view their sex lives in comparison to others and discovered that sexual narcissism colours the way people make and view those comparisons.

“For some people, those comparisons are pretty influential,” said Lisa Day, a PhD candidate at U of T Mississauga.

In new research published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Day, Emily Impett, a psychology professor at U of T Mississauga, and Amy Muise, who is now a York University professor, looked at how these comparisons affect both relationship satisfaction and sexual satisfaction for people with varying degrees of sexual narcissism.

Sexual narcissism, which should not be confused with general narcissistic personality traits, is defined as “the tendency to exploit others, a lack of empathy, feelings of grandiosity and an excessive need for validation in the sexual domain.”

They’re the people, for example, who buy you dinner and expect sexual favours in return.

The trio of researchers discovered that many people seemed to be curious about the sex lives of others. Individuals who had a high degree of sexual narcissism were very susceptible to comparisons with others, regardless of whether the source was friends, colleagues, survey data or magazine articles. They tended to make comparisons that were favourable to themselves. Comparisons that showed them in a lesser light appeared to decrease their satisfaction, both with their sexual relationship and their overall relationship.

“Individuals with a high degree of sexual narcissism tend to make comparisons with those who are less sexually skilled, for example,” Day said. “When they do make comparisons with someone doing better than they were, it gets under their skin.”

By contrast, individuals with a low degree of sexual narcissism weren’t affected by favourable comparisons. It didn’t impact how sexually satisfied they were or how much satisfaction they derived from their relationships.

The researchers reached these conclusions through three studies that used participants from the Amazon survey roster. In each study, the participants were measured for sexual narcissism and for personality narcissism. In the first study, participants were asked to recall the most recent comparison they had made between their sex lives and that of others.

The researchers assessed the direction of these comparisons.

“People who were higher in sexual narcissism were more likely to recall a [favourable] social comparison, which in turn predicted greater sexual and relationship satisfaction immediately after recalling that comparison,” they wrote.

In the second study, the researchers asked the participants how much they would be bothered by sexual comparisons with those who had more prowess or more regular sexual relations if those people were: (a) their best friend, (b) their partner’s best friend, and (c) the average couple. The results, wrote the researchers, “showed that people who were higher in sexual narcissism reported that they would be more bothered by [such] social comparisons, and, in turn, reported lower sexual and relationship satisfaction.”

In the third study, subjects were given a doctored magazine article relating to sexuality and randomly asked to compare its findings to their own sex lives. They were then asked about their satisfaction with their personal relationships and their sexual relationships. As anticipated, those with a high degree of sexual narcissism were very sensitive to such comparisons and were dissatisfied with their sexual and personal relationships when forced to compare themselves in a non-favourable way.

“People are curious about the sexuality of others and make comparisons that impact how they feel about their own relationships,” Day said. “This curiosity has opened a completely new line of research for us.”

U of T study reveals key to a happy sex life

lavende4 — Fri, 04 Nov 2016 19:23:15 +0000

U of T study reveals key to a happy sex life

lavende4 Fri, 11/04/2016 - 15:23

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Jessica Maxwell: “Your sex life is like a garden – it needs to be watered and nurtured” (Photo by Diana Tyszko)

Peter Boisseau

Author legacy

Peter Boisseau

Topic

Faculty of Arts & Science

The secret to a happy sex life in long-term relationships is the belief that it takes hard work and effort, instead of expecting sexual satisfaction to simply happen if you are true soulmates, says a study led by a University of Toronto social psychology researcher.

These “sexpectations” — the need to work on sexual growth or rely on sexual destiny – are so powerful they can either sustain otherwise healthy relationships or undermine them, says Jessica Maxwell, a PhD candidate in the department of psychology in the Faculty of Arts & Science.

“People who believe in sexual destiny are using their sex life as a barometer for how well their relationship is doing, and they believe problems in the bedroom equal problems in the relationship as a whole,” says Maxwell.

“Whereas people who believe in sexual growth not only believe they can work on their sexual problems, but they are not letting it affect their relationship satisfaction.”

The findings are based on research involving approximately 1,900 participants, and the results published online today in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology included people from both heterosexual and same-sex relationships.

While the effects of so-called “implicit beliefs” have been studied in other aspects of human relationships, this is the first time they have been applied to the sexual domain.

Maxwell says there is a honeymoon phase lasting about two to three years where sexual satisfaction is high among both sexual growth and sexual destiny believers.

But the benefit of believing in sexual growth becomes apparent after this initial phase, as sexual desire begins to ebb and flow.

“We know that disagreements in the sexual domain are somewhat inevitable over time,” says Maxwell. “Your sex life is like a garden, and it needs to be watered and nurtured to maintain it.”

While her research did not focus on the influence of media on sex beliefs, it is clear pop culture has conditioned us to accept and understand that other aspects of relationships, such as the division of household chores, takes work and effort, Maxwell notes.

Hollywood’s glamorous portrayal of sex and romance in shows like The Bachelor are less grounded in reality, however, which may fuel a “soulmate” philosophy that is not as adaptable to conflicts and problems that arise over time.

Maxwell says her research provided at least one example of the media’s impact on the sexual domain. She was able to influence people’s beliefs by “priming” them with phoney magazine articles that either emphasized sexual destiny philosophies, or advocated the idea that sex takes work.

Like everything else concerning human relationships, however, the study suggests the distinctions between the two schools of belief are more shades of grey than black and white.

For example, the research demonstrated there are often aspects of both sexual growth and sexual destiny beliefs in the same individual.

And while many women are avid consumers of soulmate and romantic destiny stories, the study showed they are more likely than men to believe that sex takes work in a long-term relationship.

“I think that this could be because there is some evidence that sexual satisfaction takes more work for women, so they rate higher on the sexual growth scale,” Maxwell says.

The study showed that, while sexual-growth beliefs can buffer the impact of problems in the bedroom, they don’t help as much if the problems become too substantial.

There is also some evidence that sexual-destiny believers may be open to making changes in their sex life for the sake of their partners, but only if they are convinced they are their true soulmate.

The findings underscore the importance for counsellors and clinicians trying to help couples struggling with sexual satisfaction to promote the idea that problems in the bedroom are normal, and don’t mean the relationship is automatically in trouble.

“Sexual-destiny beliefs have a lot of similarities with other dysfunctional beliefs about sex, and I think it’s important to recognize and address that.”