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MDMA and STD/HIV Risk Among Hidden Networks of Ecstasy-Using Young adults
Research Method:
Basic Research
Principal Investigators:
Jean J. Schensul, Ph.D.,
PI; Sarah Diamond, Ph.D, Co-PI
Grant: National Institute on Drug Abuse
Dates of Study:
2007-2010
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Background
MDMA (3-4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine) is a synthetic, psychoactive drug chemically similar to the stimulant methamphetamine and the hallucinogen mescaline. MDMA is derived from methamphetamine and its reported subjective effect on sexual desire and functioning is similar to methamphetamine. Referred to as ecstasy, it is a drug with multiple functions perceived to increase energy output, social intimacy and sensuality. Media promotion has linked these functions with social status and sexuality. Widespread availability, and expectations about the capacity of ecstasy to improve sexuality coupled with common music and entertainment interests, have brought youth of diverse backgrounds together in the purchase, sharing and consumption of ecstasy and involvement in sexual behavior. Ecstasy is said to increase arousal, while either inhibiting or prolonging erection and is popularly known as a sexual enhancing drug. Further, ecstasy users tend to be polydrug users and ecstasy is often used in the presence of alcohol and marijuana, both of which are widely recognized to increase arousal and disinhibition and increase sexual risk exposure.
The new ICR project is a followup to a four-year NIDA study among polydrug users, Pathways to High-Risk Drug Abuse Among Urban Youth, that identified the widespread use of MDMA in the Hartford area in 1999. Ecstasy users are usually polydrug users, combining or sequencing MDMA with alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, and prescription pills. The study helped to draw national attention to the popularity of the drug in association with clubs, bars and party settings, and its diffusion into urban networks. A second study, Urban Lifestyles: Club Drugs, Resource Inequities and Health Risks in Urban Youth, showed links between urban and suburban recreational drug using networks. Despite the traditional view that ecstasy has been used to enhance sensuality but not sexuality, both of our studies suggested a strong association between ecstasy and sexuality, in both expectations and practice. In addition, respondents have mentioned using condoms sometimes but not at other times while using ecstasy. What accounts for the differences is the subject of this study.
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Project Details
A team of ethnographers will be conducting participant observation in locations where young adults in the study age group 18-35 gather, to learn more about the role of MDMA in youth culture. They will carry out key informant interviews with youth and adults who are familiar with the youth party scene, focus groups with youth familiar with ecstasy youth to learn the popular narratives about MDMA, how and why it is used, in what types of relationships and in what locations, and indepth interviews with a sample of regular and infrequent users, to obtain stories of sexual encounters with and without ecstasy use.
The study will use an innovative technique for conducting qualitative case comparisons of sexual experiences with and without ecstasy to determine what configurations and pathways lead to protected versus unprotected sex. With this knowledge, the research team will be able to collaborate with youth, organizations, educational institutions and policy makers to create scripted interventions that strengthen pathways involving MDMA that lead to protection and eliminate pathways that lead to unprotected sex. |
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Project Contact:
Jean
J. Schensul, Ph.D.,
Principal Investigator
Elsie Vazquez
Project Coordinator/ Research Associate
Stephen Pavey, Ph.D.
Ethnographer
Sarah Diamond, Ph.D.
Co-PI
Chavon Hamilton
Ethnographer/Interviewer
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Findings on the History of Ecstasy and its Use in Connecticut Now Available
Poster presentation
Link
to Research Methods page
Link
to Basic Research Methods page
Links to related ICR projects:
Urban Lifestyles: Club Drugs, Resource Inequities and Health Risks in Urban Youth
Pathways
to High-Risk Drug Abuse Among Urban Youth
Supplement to Pathways to High-Risk Drug Abuse Among Urban Youth: Club
Drugs
Minority Supplement to Pathways to High-Risk Drug Abuse Among Urban Youth
Other Ecstasy related projects:
View Rolling, a faux documentary investigating the appeal of Ecstasy through personal testimonials from a diverse group of users in Los Angeles.
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