Survey of the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of University of Wisconsin-La Crosse students regarding acquired immune deficiency syndrome

File(s)
Date
1990-09-15Author
Koski, Kathryn
Department
Education College Student Personnel
Advisor(s)
Wilson, Jennifer
Oganowski, Leslie
Murphy, James
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
The purpose of this research was to provide educators with an improved understanding of the current level of AIDS-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors possessed by a sample of University of Wisconsin-La Crosse undergraduates. Two hundred and twenty-three Health Education 101 students were surveyed during spring semester 1990. Students were found to be generally knowledgeable about key AIDS-related facts, although several widely-held misconceptions were indentified. While students indicated perceiving AIDS to be a severe, painful, and pervasive condition, they generally indicated a belief that their personal risk of infection is very low. In addition, many students reported changing their behavior in some way to decrease their risk of contracting AIDS. Statistical analysis using t-tests (p < .05) revealed no relationship between personal risk perception and behavior change items, although relationships were identified between two behavior change items and mean knowledge scores. Recommendations are made for results utilization by AIDS educators in designing programs targeting specific educational needs of University of Wisconsin-La Crosse students.
Subject
University of Wisconsin--La Crosse -- Students -- Attitudes
Public opinion -- Wisconsin -- La Crosse
AIDS (Disease) -- Public opinion
Permanent Link
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1793/45285Type
Thesis