Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 AIDS Behav DOI 10.1007/s10461-017-1971-7 ORIGINAL PAPER If You Film It Will They Watch? Factors Associated with Willingness to View Safer Sex Messaging in Internet‑Based Sexually Explicit Media Martin J. Downing Jr. 1  · Nadav Antebi‑Gruszka 2,3  · Eric W. Schrimshaw 4  · Sabina Hirshfeld 1   © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2017 de mensajes de sexo seguro basados en MSE (por ejemplo, PrEP, uso de condones), aunque pocos estudios han consid- erado la voluntad del televidente en ver MSE conteniendo mensajes de prevención de VIH/ITS. Se utilizaron datos de una encuesta en línea de una muestra racialmente diversa de 859 hombres y mujeres para investigar los factores asocia- dos con la voluntad a ver MSE con mensajes de sexo seg- uro. Los análisis se realizaron por separado para tres grupos: hombres heterosexuales y otros hombres que solo informan sexo con mujeres, mujeres heterosexuales y otras mujeres que solo informan sexo con hombres y homosexuales, bi- sexuales y otros hombres que tienen sexo con hombres. Los tres grupos expresaron cierta voluntad a ver mensajes de sexo seguro en MSE y una mayoría consideró que la indus- tria de MSE tiene alguna responsabilidad a proveer este tipo de mensajes. Los factores asociados con la mayor voluntad variaron entre los tres grupos. Estos hallazgos tienen impli- caciones para el diseño y la implementación de mensajes de sexo seguro en MSE. Keywords Sexually explicit media · Pornography · Internet · HIV prevention Introduction Behavioral researchers have begun to disentangle the role of sexually explicit media (SEM) in the sexual lives of viewers and how to counter the potentially negative efects of SEM consumption on risk taking. Multiple cross-sectional stud- ies conducted in recent years, with largely gay and bisexual male samples, reveal signifcant associations between what people watch in SEM and what they do with sex partners [1–4]. This is concerning as researchers have also docu- mented a rising prevalence of condomless (i.e., bareback) Abstract Research on the association between viewing condomless sex in sexually explicit media (SEM) and engag- ing in risk behavior suggests the need for SEM-based safer sex messaging (e.g., PrEP, condom use), though few studies have considered viewer willingness to watch SEM contain- ing HIV/STI prevention messages. Online survey data from a racially diverse sample of 859 men and women were used to investigate factors associated with willingness to watch SEM with safer sex messaging. Analyses were conducted separately for three groups: heterosexual men and other men who only report sex with women, heterosexual women and other women who only report sex with men, and gay, bisex- ual, and other men who have sex with men. All three groups expressed some willingness to view safer sex messages in SEM and a majority viewed the SEM industry as having some responsibility to provide this type of messaging. Fac- tors associated with greater willingness varied across the three groups. These fndings have implications for the design and implementation of safer sex messaging in SEM. Resumen La investigación sobre la asociación entre ver sexo sin condón en medios sexualmente explícitos (MSE) y participar en conductas de riesgo sugieren la necesidad * Martin J. Downing Jr. mdowning@healthsolutions.org 1 Public Health Solutions, 40 Worth Street, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10013, USA 2 The Center for HIV Educational Studies & Training (CHEST), Hunter College, CUNY, New York, NY, USA 3 Mental Health Counseling, Department of Psychology, City College of New York, CUNY, New York, NY, USA 4 Sociomedical Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA