Identity development, attraction, and behaviour of heterosexually identified men who have sex with men: scoping review protocol

Abstract

Abstract Background Heterosexually identified men who have sex with men (H-MSM) are distinct from other hetero- sexual men and from gay, bisexual, and other sexual minority men. Specifically, H-MSM experience discordance between their sexual identity (i.e., heterosexual) and behaviours (i.e., sexual encounters with other men). This sexual identity-behaviour discordance can create barriers to obtaining healthcare and social support. Understanding and accepting H-MSM as they self-identify may be necessary to implement effective public health and psychosocial interventions. The aim of the present study is to provide an overview of research on H-MSM. Methods A scoping review will be conducted to identify and describe the identity development, attraction, and behaviour of H-MSM. This scoping review will also identify and describe current trends related to the recruitment of H-MSM and recommend directions for future research. Searches will be conducted in Academic Search Complete, APA PsychInfo, CINAHL Plus with full text, Education Research Complete, Gender Studies Database, GenderWatch, Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition, LGBTQ + Source, MEDLINE, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collec- tion, SocINDEX with full text, Sociological Collection, Social Work Abstracts, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, and ResearchGate. Primary research studies published in peer-reviewed journals will be included. Dissertations and theses that include primary research on H-MSM will also be included. Reference lists, experts in the field, pre- print servers, and relevant conferences will also be consulted for extant and in-progress literature. Two reviewers will independently pilot the data extraction form and conduct the title and abstract screening, with consultation from a research librarian. Seven reviewers will then conduct the full-text article screening. Thematic content analysis will guide the review; through independent review and reviewer meetings, themes and subthemes will be identified and reported from the extracted literature. Discussion This is the first known knowledge synthesis on H-MSM, seeking to better understand sexual identity- behaviour discordance amongst cisgender men. We anticipate that a theoretical framework of H-MSM’s sexuality, internal processes, and behaviours will be constructed from this review. Alongside implications for further research with H-MSM, this review may be relevant to sexually transmitted infection public health and to clinicians working in the field of male sexuality.

Description

© The Author(s) 2023. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecom- mons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data

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Citation

Eaton, A.D., Scheadler, T.R., Bradley, C. et al. Identity development, attraction, and behaviour of heterosexually identified men who have sex with men: scoping review protocol. Syst Rev 12, 184 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-023-02355-6

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