Bugchasing - Research

Research

Over the past decade, researchers have endeavored to document, explain, and look for a solution to bug chasing. Dr. DeAnn Gauthier and Dr. Craig Forsyth put forth the first academic article in 1999. They explored the emerging trend of gay men who eschew condoms and the development of a barebacking subculture. They also noted through their qualitative research that some barebackers were in search of HIV.

Dr. Richard Tewksbury was one of the first researchers to acknowledge bug chasing online and that bug chasers were using the Internet to assist their seroconversive efforts. In his more recent research, he gave a strong analysis of what bug chasers and gift givers resemble in their behaviors, attitudes, and demographics.

Drs. Christian Grov and Jeffrey T. Parsons' (2006) research using the internet profiles of 1,228 bug chasers and gift givers identified six subsets of bug chasers and gift givers.

1. "The Committed Bug Chaser" included men who indicated they were HIV-negative and seeking HIV-positive partners. Of the committed bug chasers who indicated a desired sexual position, the majority were bottoms (62.2% anal receptive). Only 7.5% of the sample were classified as committed bug chasers.
2. "The Opportunistic Bug Chaser" included men who were HIV-negative and indicated that their partner’s HIV status did not matter. Most of these men were either versatile (43.6%; meaning anal receptive and anal insertive) or bottoms (46.3%). In total, 12.1% of their sample included opportunistic bug chasers.
3. "The Committed Gift Giver" included men who were HIV-positive that also indicated they were seeking HIV-negative partners. Notably, only five men from the entire sample of 1,228 fell into this category.
4. "The Opportunistic Gift Giver" included men who indicated they were HIV-positive and that their partner’s status did not matter to them. Most of these men (61.8%) were versatile. Opportunistic Gift Givers comprised 26% of the sample.
5. "The Serosorter" Although all men Drs. Grov and Parsons sampled indicated they were a gift giver or a bug chaser in their Internet profile, behavioral intentions did not consistently match with bug chaser/gift giver identity. Some HIV-positive men (8.5% of the total sample) indicated preference for other HIV-positive men. Meanwhile, some HIV-negative men (12.5% of the total sample) indicated preference for other HIV-negative men. Although having indicated they were a bug chaser or a gift giver, these men were serosorting for partners of similar HIV status.
6. "The Ambiguous Bug Chaser or Gift Giver" included men who indicated they did not know their HIV status and thus it was difficult to determine if they were seeking to bug chase or gift give. This category comprised 16.3% of the sample.

In total, Drs. Christian Grov and Jeffrey T. Parsons concluded that bug chasing and gift giving might occur among a select few individuals. Further, their research found that there was substantial variation in intentions to spread HIV (with some not intent on spreading HIV) among those who indicated they were gift givers or bug chasers.

Dr. Mark Blechner found that some bug chasers were lonely and alienated, and saw HIV as a path to becoming part of a community that elicits public sympathy and caretaking. Other bug chasers were so overwhelmed by the anxiety of contracting HIV that they thought it would be a relief from that anxiety to become HIV-positive and "get it over with." And most recently, Dr. David Moskowitz, Dr. Catriona MacLeod and Dr. Michael Roloff attempted to quantitatively explain why bug chasers chase HIV. They claimed that individuals who look for HIV are more likely sex addicts. These individuals have exhausted the sexual high they previously derived by performing other sexual risk taking behaviors, and now turn to bug chasing to achieve the risk-oriented high.

Dr. Bruce D. LeBlanc (2007) conducted an exploratory study involving survey responses from self identified bug chasers, one of the first published studies involving direct responses from this identified group. His findings challenge "common sense" and research findings regarding bug chasers. Examining psychological and social motivations for seeking HIV the most frequent response was that individuals could not identify a psychological (internal thought process) or social (interactions with others) factor for seeking HIV. Regarding motivations for seeking infection the most frequent response was seeing becoming infected as a thrill, hot, or erotic, as well as seeing the semen through a similar lens. Few respondents identified "getting it over with" as a motivating factor.

Some limited identification of becoming part of the "community" or "brotherhood" was identified. Other variables studied included methods for finding partners, sexual behaviors undertaken while seeking infection, average number of sexual partners, length of time for which they will seek infection and life event changes if they were successful in becoming infected with HIV.