What upsets me most about AIDS is ...: a survey of children and adolescents. NLM AIDSLINE Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1991. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

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What upsets me most about AIDS is ...: a survey of children and adolescents.

AIDS Educ Prev. 1990 Winter;2(4):296-304. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE MED/91144978
Brown LK; Nassau JH; Levy V; Brown University, Providence, RI.

Abstract: While AIDS-related knowledge and attitudes have been studied in different populations, little attention has been given to emotional reactions to the epidemic or to the validity of frequently employed forced-choice questionnaires. Spontaneous emotional reactions to the AIDS crisis were assessed in 441 fifth, seventh, and tenth graders from one school district. Students responded to one open-ended question, What upsets me most about AIDS is.... Loglinear analysis revealed grade as a significant variable: fifth graders were most upset by AIDS' lethality, while tenth graders felt helpless. Cognitive and emotional factors were postulated to account for these differences. Students who correctly responded to knowledge-related, open-ended questions were likely to correctly answer comparable forced-choice questions. AIDS education strategies that consider grade-specific anxieties are suggested.
Keywords: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/*PSYCHOLOGY Adolescence Age Factors *Anxiety *Attitude to Health Child Cognition *Fear Female *Health Surveys Human Male Questionnaires Sex Behavior Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S. JOURNAL ARTICLEKWDacquiredimmunodeficiencysyndrome/KWDpsychologyadolescenceagefactorsKWDanxietyKWDattitudetohealthchildcognitionKWDfearfemaleKWDhealthsurveyshumanmalequestionnairessexbehaviorsupport,non-uKWDsKWDgov'tsupport,uKWDsKWDgov't,pKWDhKWDsKWDjournalarticle
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Copyright © 1991 - National Library of Medicine. Reproduced under license with the National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD.

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