HIV/AIDS and Sexuality

In this important book, editor Michael Ross brings together the latest knowledge and research concerning the relationship between HIV and AIDS and sexual functioning. HIV/AIDS and Sexuality explores the experiences of being HIV-infected and the impact of infection on an individual's sexuality. It describes differences that may be associated with individuals who are infected or concerned about infection, and it provides new in-depth analyses of the effect of HIV on sexuality and sexual risks. The book provides clinical perspectives on sexual problems associated with HIV infection as well as some treatment approaches.

Contributing authors represent the United States, Australia, and Europe and discuss heterosexual men and women, gay men, lesbians, and injecting drug users. This diversity provides a more complete picture of the experiences of people with HIV in terms of explicit and implicit sexuality. Chapters include cross-sectional and cohort study designs as well as qualitative, quantitative, and clinical approaches. Some of the topics explored are:

• the centrality of sexuality to equality of life and identity and the impact of HIV on sexuality in gay-identified men

• the psychological impact of making changes in sexual behavior on gay men with HIV infection

• risk behaviors in seropositive and seronegative women

• a study of a cohort of HIV-infected women associated with the military

• sexual addiction in gay men and its association with HIV risks

• overt and subtle communications processes that occur between health care providers and clients about sexuality and HIV

• stages of change in safer sexual practices in a cohort of gay men

• personality variables associated with risk and infection in both homosexual and heterosexual men

  HIV/AIDS and Sexuality opens up the area of sexuality in people living with HIV and focuses much-needed attention on the issues involved in sexual expression, HIV transmission risk, and living with HIV infection. This book is an illuminating exploration into the subject that helps professionals better understand their clients and thus provide more compassionate and effective care.