Sexual risk behaviours and conscious search for HIV/AIDS infection (bug-chasing): A narrative review from Psychology

Abstract

Sexual risk behaviours have been studied increasingly in recent years. The term barebacking refers to unprotected anal sex referring to men who have sex with other men although the term has been extended to unprotected sex in general, including women as well. Within barebackers, there is a population of men called bug-chasers. The practice of bug-chasing involves the active and conscious pursuit of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. HIV-positive people who transmit the virus are called give-givers. The main aim of this narrative review was to conceptualize and characterize these populations, focusing also on the evaluation of the main motivational theories that try to explain the bug-chasing phenomenon. The secondary aim was to analyze the role of some variables of interest such as sex addition, self-humiliation, sexual practice preferences, partner search preferences, substance abuse, self-identification or sexual roles in bug-chasers and their comparison with barebackers and give-givers. Further research is needed to provide answers to various questions still present in the current state of the art.