An. Singh et al., SERIOUSLY EMOTIONALLY-DISTURBED STUDENTS KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDES ABOUT AIDS, Journal of emotional and behavioral disorders, 2(3), 1994, pp. 156-163
In recent years, the prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) has dramatical
ly increased in many segments of our population, including adolescents
. Specific subgroups of adolescents have been identified as being at i
ncreased risk of acquiring HIV infection due to their high-risk behavi
ors and lack of basic knowledge regarding AIDS. Using a 50-item AIDS q
uestionnaire, this study surveyed the AIDS knowledge and attitudes of
220 adolescents with serious emotional disturbance (SED), a group part
icularly vulnerable to HIV infection. Although the majority of the stu
dents knew the main modes of HIV transmission, the students' ages and
race were related to their level of knowledge, and there were a number
of common misconceptions reported by the students. In terms of studen
ts' attitudes toward behaviors that might lead to HIV infection and to
lerance of those with AIDS, this study found that gender, race, and ag
e were predictive in various subscales. These findings highlight the n
eed for comprehensive AIDS education to address the knowledge deficits
and permissive attitudes regarding high-risk behavior seen in some st
udents with SED.