The effects of educational programs on adolescents' knowledge and attitudes about acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)
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Abstract
This study was examined the effectiveness of different types of AIDS educational programs for adolescents. The study compared the effects of two different programs, a lecture versus a film, to a no-program condition. Subjects' knowledge about AIDS, attitudes towards AIDS patients, and attitudes towards practicing preventive behaviors were assessed 1 week before the program, immediately after the program, and 1 month after the program. The subjects were 448 lOth grade students. The attitudinal measures were developed for this study. On the post test, subjects in the two treatment groups were expected to increase their knowledge about AIDS, positive attitudes towards AIDS patients, and positive attitudes towards practicing preventive behaviors. Subjects in the film group were expected to have greater positive attitudinal shifts than subjects in the lecture group. Subjects in both treatment groups were expected to maintain knowledge gains over the follow-up period. Only subjects in the film group were expected to maintain the attitudinal changes. The no-program group was not expected to show any changes in any of the measurements over the testing period. No differences were expected between the sexes on any of the measures at any of the measurement points. Results of an analysis of variance with repeated measures revealed that subjects in the two treatment groups significantly increased their knowledge, positive attitudes towards AIDS patients, and positive attitudes towards practicing preventive behaviors. The lecture group demonstrated significantly greater knowledge changes than either of the other two groups. There were no significant differences in the attitude measures between the two treatment groups on the post test or follow-up. Subjects in both treatment groups retained some of the gains in knowledge and positive attitudes towards AIDS patients over the follow-up period. There were no significant differences between the two treatment groups. Positive attitudes towards practicing preventive behaviors were not maintained in either treatment group. The no-program group showed significant decreases in knowledge and attitudes towards practicing preventive behaviors over time, there were no changes in attitudes towards AIDS patients. Females had significantly higher knowledge scores and more positive attitude scores than males. These results are discussed.