“Sweden have changed me”: a qualitative study exploring sexual health needs of young male migrants

BACKGROUND: With increasingly numbers of migrants arriving in Europe, migration has become a worldwide public health challenge. Although evidence show that poor sexual health is associated with migration and that young migrants often experience sexual and mental health needs, most studies have overwhelmingly focused on women, and have shown gaps of sexual health needs of young migrant men. Thus, the aim of this study was to explore sexual health needs of young Syrian, Afghan and Eritrean men and how the fulfillment (or not) of these needs is related to their mental health. In addition, we also explored the factors that restricted and/or facilitated the fulfillment of their sexual health needs. METHODS: An explorative qualitative study was carried out in Region Stockholm, using 32 in-depth interviews with young migrant men. Analysis of the data was performed by using constructivist grounded theory. PRELIMINARY RESULTS: Our analysis showed that our informants’ sexual health needs and mental health challenges followed a process of individual change as they adapted to the Swedish society. The core category represented this process of change: “On my way, but not there yet”. It contains four sub-categories: “being on the move: the migration journey”, “newly arrived: contrasting old and new values and learning new concepts”, “navigating relationships, love and sex, and “the respectful man. We identified six key factors that influenced their sexual health: Attending school/ receiving sex education, support to adapt, experiencing enjoyable relationships, conservative parents, exposure to stigma/discrimination and negative image/narrative of young male migrants. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights that sexual health needs and mental health challenges changes over time. The findings also illustrate the importance of understanding the factors influencing this process of change. KEY MESSAGES: • Young migrant men’s sexual and mental health needs evolve alongside their individual process of change. • Factors influencing this process were exposure to sex education in schools, receiving support to adapt to their new environment, family relations and perceived discrimination.