Fear and knowledge of AIDS and changes in sexual behavior

This study investigated the correlation between fear and knowledge of AIDS and changes in sexual behavior. A review of the literature showed students with more knowledge and fear of contracting AIDS made changes in their sexual behavior to help prevent becoming infected. Subjects who participated in this study were undergraduate student volunteers in the Counseling Psychology Research Pool. The subjects were given two questionnaires to complete. The first questionnaire consisted of thirty questions.It assessed their general knowledge of AIDS by asking them to respond with a "yes* or "no" to the statements. In the second questionnaire, the first eleven questions assessed their fear of contracting AIDS by asking the subjects to respond to an agree/disagree continuum from one through seven. The final four questions asked the subjects to respond to changes they have made in their sexual behavior because of the possibility of contracting AIDS. The continuum ranged from " not at all" through "a great deal." ThePearson product moment statistic was used to determine correlations.There was a significant correlation (.001) between fear of AIDS and changes in sexual behavior, but there was not a correlation between knowledge of AIDS and changes in sexual behavior. AIDS is not prevalent at this university, so the students were not as fearful of contracting the disease as students might have been in high incidence environments and as a result did not take necessary precautions.Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance ServicesThesis (M.A.