A scale to measure attitudes about HIV-antibody testing: development and psychometric validation

Testing for antibodies to HIV is a vital component of many AIDS prevention and intervention programs. To increase the use of HIV antibody testing, it is important to understand more about peoples' attitudes about testing so that intervention programs can focus on the specific concerns of the target population. A scale to measure attitudes about HIV antibody testing (HIV-Antibody Testing Attitude Scale, HTAS) was developed and tested for reliability and validity, using data from two samples of heterosexual college students. The HTAS is a 32-item Likert-type scale, with high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = .88). Scores on the HTAS correlate with self-reported testing and intention to be tested for HIV, but not with other types of self-protective behavior (e.g., condom use), indicating evidence for its discriminant validity. Preliminary factor analysis of the responses to the HTAS shows four factors: concerns about friend's responses, concerns about family's responses, beliefs about public opinion of testing, and concerns about confidentiality of tests. The HTAS is easy to administer and offers a tool to use for both designing and evaluating HIV intervention and prevention programs that emphasize HIV antibody testing.