Spanish adaptation of the HIV/AIDS Adolescent-friend Communication Scale.

Introduction Specific studies have demonstrated that young adolescents emit behaviors wh ich entail certain risks with respect to the sexual transmission of HIV. In recent years, many of the HIV/AIDS prevention programs directed to adolesc ents have focused on evaluating their information sources concerning the si ckness, while placing specific emphasis on parents and/or friends. in this context, it has been observed that parents are considered as a less credibl e and less important source of information, while friends are considered as a more credible and important source. The objective of this study is to adapt into Spanish The HIV/AIDS Adolescen t-Friend Communication Scale (Paniagua, Black and O'Boyle, 1997), in order to evaluate the level and quality of the comunication that exists between t he adolescent and his friends concerning areas related with HIV/AIDS. Method Subjects The sample was selected by a group of 10 health professionals specialized e n areas related with HIV/AIDS. On the other hand, the study sample was rand omly selected and included 24 schooling adolescents of both male and female gender. Of the 24 subjects, 15 had no psychological disorders, while the r emaining 9 presented psychological disorders. The age range of the total sa mple varied between 13 and 18 years of age. Instruments The HIV/AIDS Adolescent-Friend Communication Scale (Paniagua et at., 1997). Procedure The stages foil owed in the process of the Spanish adaptation of instrument 's were the following: The adaptation process is divided into ten phases: a) translation of the or iginal instrument from English to Spanish; b) revision of the translation b y two expert translators; c) introduction of the pertinent changes of the i nstrument as suggested by the expert translators that evaluate the translat ion; d) revision of the item wording by the health professionals specialize d in areas related with the HIV/AIDS; e) analysis of the results; f) introd uction of the changes indicated by the experts for those items with a perce ntage of agreement lower than 85% in terms of the wording; gf evaluation of the item comprehension in a sample of adolescents formed by one group of a dolescents without psychological disorders and another group of adolescents with psychological disorders; h) analysis of the results for each one of t he groups and for the total sample of adolescents; i) introduction of some of the changes in the item language in those items that did not reach a per centage agreement of 85% in terms of the stated comprehension, and j) elabo ration and writing of the final instrument. Results Percentage of agreement in terms of the item wording between experts. The items that did not obtain more than 85% of agreement were revised. Thes e items were the following: 1, 2, 5, 8, 9, and 10. Percentage of agreement in terms of item comprehension among adolescent wit hout psychological disorders. All of the instrummZt's items obtained a percentage of agreement of 100% in their comprehension by the adolescents. Percentage of agreement in terms of item comprehension among adolescent wit h psychological disorders. Ail items obtained a percentage of agreement of 100% in their comprehension by the adolescents. Percentage of agreement in terms of the comprehension of the item in the to tal sample of adolescents. All of the instrument's items obtained a percentage of agreement of 100% in item comprehension by the total sample of adolescents. Conclusion After changing the item wording in those items that did not reach an 85% ag reement according to the experts in terms of it comprehension by the sample of adolescent and after evaluating, we elaborated a final edited Spanish i nstrument to evaluate the level and quality of the existing communication b etween the adolescent and his friend in areas related with the HIV/AIDS, wh ich were clearly understood by the sample of adolescents with psychological disorders and the sample without psychological disorders. A large number o f studies have found that friends are consider as having more credibility a nd has being more important as sources of information. This is due to the a ct that adolescents perceive a series of implicit behavioral norms in the g roup of referent for preventing being rejected by the rest of the group.