To assess the construct validity of the AIDS Attitude Scale (AAS) (Shrum, Turner, & Bruce, 1989), we administered it and related attitude scales to introductory psychology students (n = 279) and gay/lesbian support group members (n = 38). A subset of the students (n = 105) participated in a concurrent ...

Eight hundred eighty-seven students in social work, nursing, and humanities from two major universities in Delhi were compared regarding their knowledge about AIDS/HIV and attitudes toward PWAs and homosexuals. Their scores on the 20-item knowledge test indicate fair degree of knowledge; however, they lacked information in crucial areas of AIDS ...

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to test the effects of an education program in Tanzania designed to reduce children's risk of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and to improve their tolerance of and care for people with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). METHODS: A randomized controlled community trial including ...

Between 1986 and 1996, 378 HIV cases were identified in Bahrain, of whom 51% were foreign nationals. Intravenous drug abuse was a major risk factor (38.8%) among Bahraini nationals, while transmission through sexual contact was more common (45.7%) among foreigners. Other well known risk factors were also represented in the ...

A telephone survey was conducted to measure AIDS knowledge, media usage and condom attitudes and behaviors among 500 adults aged 18 to 49 in Brasilia, as well as to evaluate the feasibility of the telephone survey method in a developing country. The response rate was 91.6%. Respondents had good knowledge ...

The level of sexual risk among crack cocaine uses had remained high, regardless of their level of AIDS knowledge. Consequently, researchers have advocated the use of rigorous behavioral theory in aiding epidemiological research and intervention. To test whether stage of change for "insisting that men (besides your main partner) use ...

As the second part of a community based educational campaign to convey the risk of HIV/AIDS to commercial sex workers in Jakarta, from May-July 1995, a total of 253 male transvestites (WARIA) were questioned about their sexual behavior patterns and their knowledge and attitude toward HIV/AIDS. In the previous report, ...

Individuals engage in high rates of AIDS risk behavior, despite awareness that infection is preventable, and use biased decision rules for determining the AIDS risk potential of their own and others' behavior. In this laboratory study, 32 male and 32 female university students made judgments of the AIDS risk potential ...

Clients and brothel managers are often the most powerful decision-makers regarding condom use in brothels, but since publicly promoting condom use is still "culturally" difficult in Indonesia, the most feasible way of reaching clients is through the female commercial sex workers (FCSWs) and their managers. The existence of quasi-official brothel ...

OBJECTIVES: To describe sexual risk for HIV infection among adult night school students in São Paulo, Brazil, and to evaluate the effect of an HIV/AIDS prevention workshop to reduce sexual risk. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A longitudinal study was conducted among four demographically similar public night schools in the inner city ...

OBJECTIVE: To assess the awareness of AIDS, other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), condoms, sources of health information and HIV-related societal risks among Dai villagers in southern Yunnan Province, China. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: In November-December 1994, a cross-sectional descriptive study, comprising a questionnaire-based survey and focus group discussions, was conducted in ...

This study offers a new evaluation methodology for peer-education programs. Peer educators' knowledge, self-esteem, peer pressure, and the number of friends, neighbors, and relatives given HIV/AIDS information were compared before and after training using self-administered questionnaires. Significant changes were observed in knowledge, peer pressure, self-efficacy, numbers of people given condoms, ...

OBJECTIVES: Measures of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)-related knowledge that have good psychometric properties are needed to evaluate the impact of educational interventions, particularly among impoverished populations. Few measures that satisfy these requirements are available. The authors describe the psychometric characteristics and composition of a subset of 21 AIDS knowledge items ...

This study was undertaken to assess the state of the european population's knowledge on HIV transmission and means of protection. Data were delivered from different national surveys based on questionnaires administered to general population samples. The results showed that the population's knowledge on HIV/AIDS are insufficient or even incorrect.

Behaviour-related preventive measures are still the main weapon against the spread of AIDS. Intensive AIDS prevention and control activities conducted over the last ten years need to be evaluated on the basis of their impact on attitudes and behaviour relevant to AIDS. The main objective of this study was to ...

The study is concerned with a general humanistic approach to health (lifeskills) education and its application to the specific issue of HIV/AIDS in the Republic of Ireland. A programme of five classroom sessions, structured to encourage active participation, was administered to an experimental group of 20 participants (10 male and ...

Sex workers are not confined to brothels, they also include a variety of individuals who practise part-time in establishments conductive to sexual liaisons. We undertook to study the extent of sex work among masseuses and nightclub hostesses and the level of AIDS and STD knowledge in these 2 groups. The ...

AIDS awareness and attitudes among an educated segment of the Indian population were assessed. The study population was a total of 433 students and faculty in colleges and universities, and research & technical staff of the Public Health Service. While most knew that sexual intercourse (96%) & injection drug use ...

A total of 792 pregnant women from three hospitals of Jaipur were surveyed to assess and compare their knowledge and attitudes regarding various aspects of AIDS. Observations revealed that level of knowledge was significantly higher in pregnant women from upper income group than low income group (P < 0.05). The ...

Variations of AIDS-related beliefs by grade, race, gender, socioeconomic status, and size of the community were examined for a diverse group of elementary school children (n = 609). Consistent with prior research, beliefs about HIV transmission and willingness to interact with persons with AIDS increased across grades 1 to 5. ...

The relation between AIDS-related knowledge and sexual risk-taking for a sample of young men living in northern Thailand was examined. Data were collected during the fall of 1991. The sample of 1472 men includes university students, soldiers, store clerks, and laborers. Recent commercial sex patronage was variable among the subgroups, ...

Part of a research programme studying methods of combating the AIDS epidemic was a survey and accompanying qualitative research focused on attitudes toward male sexuality and male sexual behaviour outside marriage and the extent and success of female attempts to control it. A survey of 1749 males and 1976 females ...

The AIDS Attitude Scale (AAS) is a self-report measure of attitude toward persons with AIDS. Since its introduction in 1992, the AAS has been used in over 30 research studies. Initial psychometric estimates of reliability and validity for the scale were supportive. This report summarizes emerging psychometric data from a ...

This research examines young unmarried women's ways of talking about AIDS, AIDS prevention, and its relationship to mass media AIDS messages in Thailand. Data were derived from a survey conducted in four districts of Kanchanaburi province. Three hundred ninety-seven unmarried women were extracted from the approximately 1,800 original subjects for ...

In 1994, as part of its continuing "America Responds to AIDS" campaign, the CDC launched an innovative, straightforward campaign comprising nine public service announcements (PSAs) that advocate either condom use for sexually active young adults or sexual inactivity. This article evaluates the persuasive appeals of the PSAs through use of ...

This article explores the problems of risky sexual behavior by examining the ways people verbally negotiate sexual interaction regarding sexually transmitted diseases. Based on in-depth interviews with 124 adults (ages 21-63) who are infected with genital herpes, the article shows that knowledge about sexually transmitted diseases is not necessarily related ...

This study examined the association between HIV/AIDS knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions among high school students age 14 years and older who attended school in two large urban towns, Bo and Freetown, Sierra Leone, West Africa. All subjects in the survey were Africans in grade two to ten in schools in ...

We examined socio-cultural and economic determinants of condom use among 100 female South African commercial sex workers. The symbolism and dynamics of condom use between sex workers and their clientele were explored. These issues were also investigated when sex workers negotiated sex with their personal partners. An additional focus was ...

A cross sectional anonymously administered questionnaire was used amongst 1689 secondary school girls and boys to determine their knowledge of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Their knowledge was found to be very low. While 80% could name an STD in an open question, only 16% could recognise the ...

The views of heads of academic departments in UK medical and dental schools on the extent of their specialty's involvement in teaching undergraduates about HIV/AIDS and undertaking research in this area was ascertained by postal questionnaire. Three hundred and nineteen responses were received from medical schools (61.7%) and 58 responses ...

OBJECTIVES: Sexually transmitted disease is a growing problem for college students. To address this problem, health professionals on many campuses have turned to peer led prevention workshops. The research evaluated the effectiveness of four types of such workshops. METHODS: The workshops followed either an information based format or an activity ...

The purpose of this study was to identify AIDS-related knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and short-term behavioral intentions of adolescents attending five Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) parochial high schools in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. This is the first known research on AIDS to be conducted in parochial and specifically, SDA schools ...

The purpose of this study was to examine the attitudes of laboratory staff towards AIDS and AIDS patients and related factors. The population consisted of the working-age laboratory technologists living in Finland (n = 5,973). A sample of 249 laboratory technologists was selected from the register of the National Research ...

This study was carried out in selected urban areas in Zambia; its objective was to examine the sexual networking and activities of urban youth in Zambia: specifically to determine how sexual behaviour among young people might influence the course of the AIDS epidemic and also to suggest policy interventions. Sexual ...

The spread of HIV/AIDS is mostly through sexual intercourse and is largely influenced by behaviour and attitude. Data based on a sample of 1797 households are used to study changes in sexual behaviour and attitudes sickness and death in Ugandan communities, which were due to the realization that too many ...

The HIV/AIDS epidemic has led to growing interest in the epidemiology of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in Switzerland. STD surveillance data from three sources are presented: reports from six policlinics of dermatovenereology since 1973, laboratory reports of Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Treponema pallidum and Chlamydia trachomatis since 1988, and reports by the ...

During a 12-month period (November 1994-October 1995), Afro-Brazilian Umbanda healers (Pais-de-Santo) taught 126 fellow healers from 51 Umbanda centres (terreiros) located in seven overcrowded slums (favelas) (population 104-343) in Brazil's northeast, the biomedical prevention of AIDS, including safe sex practices, avoidance of ritual blood behaviours and sterilization of cutting instruments. ...

A questionnaire (99 questions) was used to gather baseline data on New Zealand youth regarding sexuality and AIDS. The sample consisted of 560 students ranging in age from 12 to 18 years. Findings on general sexual knowledge and AIDS knowledge (15 questions) are reported. There is room for improvement in ...

Over 30,000 ever-married women in 13 (out of 25) Indian states where HIV is thought to be highly prevalent-Maharashtra, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and ten other less populous states-were surveyed about their awareness and knowledge of AIDS. Only one in six women had heard of AIDS. Among those, knowledge about ...

This study examined the relationship of safer sex behavior practices, knowledge of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), social norms, and familiarity with persons infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) with HIV risk appraisal in women. Risk appraisal was measured by perceived susceptibility and seriousness of AIDS. The AIDS Risk Reduction ...

A survey of female commercial sex workers (CSW) in Iloilo City, Philipines, was conducted in October and November 1995 to determine the level of knowledge, attitudes, and preventive practices regarding HIV/AIDS to guide future education programs. CSWs in the Philippines were categorized as registered or freelance. Registered CSWs included "hospitality ...

A prospective health-education research project about AIDS knowledge and attitudes towards AIDS was conducted in Athens and nine adjacent municipalities in west Attica, Greece. Socioeconomic and demographic data, AIDS knowledge, and attitudinal information were collected from 1552 respondents and analysed treating the attitudes of stigmatization, discrimination and fear towards AIDS ...

OBJECTIVE: To determine young adolescents' range of factual knowledge and beliefs about human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) among those who have received AIDS education. DESIGN: Focus group analysis. SETTING: Urban middle school. PARTICIPANTS: Two male and two female groups consisting of 4-7 students each, ages 11-15 ...

This study examined the relative ability of selected person variables (interpersonal self-efficacy, self-control, attitudes about the effect of condoms on sex, normative beliefs) and interpersonal-situational variables (partner preference, partner serostatus) to explain gay and bisexual males' (N = 267) condom use during insertive and receptive intercourse. Partner preference accounted for ...

A seventy-nine question survey concerning AIDS was administered to 142 students in a high school senior class in Manhasset, Long Island, an affluent New York City suburb with a low incidence of AIDS. The instrument elicited information about knowledge, attitudes and beliefs, behaviors, and risks. Overall knowledge levels were high. ...

Intervention to control the spread of HIV/AIDS in out of school youth is under way in Bahir Dar Town. This survey was therefore conducted in April 1994 to provide baseline data on sexual behaviour, knowledge and attitude towards HIV/AIDS. A total of 1115 out of school young people from eight ...

Safer sex in the context of HIV/AIDS control in Kenya has mainly been promoted through the encouragement of condom use. In this strategy, safer sex is treated as though it is synonymous with condom use. This paper, which is based on ethnographic data drawn from a sample of 29 heterosexual ...

BACKGROUND: HIV/AIDS remains in epidemic proportions worldwide. The incidence of HIV/AIDS among infants, children, adolescents, and women has risen rapidly, and nurses cannot avoid HIV/AIDS patients. Because HIV/AIDS is associated with certain risk groups that have historically been subjects of discrimination, it has a stigma which contributes to the attitudes ...

Symptoms are the outward manifestations that allow children to identify and recognize illness; children's understanding of the symptoms of an illness may be directly related to their understanding of its cause or means of transmission. This study is the first empirical investigation of children's conceptual understanding and factual knowledge of ...

Kenya's top Roman Catholic church official burned condoms and safe sex literature in a ceremony organized by a group opposed to contraception and sex education. About 250 people watched as Cardinal Maurice Otunga and two gynecologists prayed and sang before setting fire to several boxes of condoms and 100 copies ...