A LONGITUDINAL COMPARISON OF THE AIDS-RELATED ATTITUDES AND KNOWLEDGEOF PARENTS AND THEIR CHILDREN

As part of an evaluation of an experimental school-based AIDS risk-red uction program, data from 2,392 middle-school students in 15 high-risk school districts and from 1,627 of their parents were compared to exa mine how young adolescents and their parents differ with respect to AI DS-related knowledge and attitudes. At the time of the seventh-grade p retest, parents knew significantly more about AIDS than their children did. At the eighth-grade posttest, students who participated in the p rogram knew either more than or at least as much as their parents in s everal subject areas, while among those not exposed to the program, pa rents still knew more than their children in most areas. The intervent ion had a positive impact on students' attitudes toward people with AI DS and on their degree of comfort about discussing with their parents such issues as drug use and sexuality.