Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020;16(5):488-513.
doi: 10.1080/1550428x.2019.1682740. Epub 2019 Nov 19.

Integrating intra-individual and dyadic factors in examining health among gay and bisexual men: A narrative review of recent literature

Gabriel Robles  1 , Stephen C Bosco  1   2 , Trey V Dellucci  1   2 , Tyrel J Starks  1   2   3
Affiliations

Integrating intra-individual and dyadic factors in examining health among gay and bisexual men: A narrative review of recent literature

Gabriel Robles et al. J GLBT Fam Stud. 2020.

Abstract

Gay and bisexual men (GBM) experience disproportionate rates of mental health and other negative health outcomes. For GBM in relationships, contextualizing the myriad of negative outcomes as a dyadic process may provide insight into the mechanisms through which these adverse outcomes develop. The objective of this review is to examine the current state of the relationship science literature using a health framework, Relationship Process and Health. We conducted a search for articles using PubMed, PsycInfo, and Web of Science for empirical articles in English published in the past 15 years on GBM in a relationship, assessing attachment, and relationship functioning as predictors of health outcomes. We found 649 articles. After screening, 23 articles were identified and reviewed. Findings overwhelming identified HIV risk as the primary health outcome. Attachment was associated with relationship functioning and sexual risk behaviors. Relationship-specific components were largely used as predictors of sexual HIV transmission risk behaviors. Together, these studies suggest that relationship functioning is a prospective link between attachment and health-related outcomes. The literature has yet to examine empirically dyadic-level mechanisms that may explain the association between individual attachment and health outcomes aside from HIV risk, and needs more examination of other health disparities affecting GBM.

Keywords: attachment; gay and bisexual men; health; health behaviors; relationships.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1:
Figure 1:
Flow diagram of search strategy
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Bariola E, Lyons A, & Leonard W (2015). The mental health benefits of relationship formalisation among lesbians and gay men in same-sex relationships. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 39(6), 530–535. doi:10.1111/1753-6405.12432 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bartholomew K, & Allison CJ (2006). An attachment perspective on abusive dynamics in intimate relationships In Mikulincer M & Goodman GS (Eds.), Dynamics of romantic love: Attachment, caregiving, and sex (pp. 102–127). New York: Guilford Press.
    1. Bartholomew K, Regan KV, Oram D, & White MA (2008). Correlates of partner abuse in male same-sex relationships. Violence and victims, 23(3), 344–360. doi:10.1891/0886-6708.23.3.344 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Boesch RP, Cerqueira R, Safer MA, & Wright TL (2007). Relationship satisfaction and commitment in long-term male couples: Individual and dyadic effects. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 24(6), 837–853. doi:10.1177/0265407507084186 - DOI
    1. Bowlby J (1969). Attachment and loss: Vol. 1 Attachment. New York: Basic Books.

LinkOut - more resources