Attitudes of undergraduate college students toward AIDS

This study examined attitudes about AIDS and the effects of those attitudes on the behavior of 131 undergraduate college students. Participants reported having minimal concern about contracting AIDS from their current or future sexual partners, and their rate of sexual activity had not changed from that of the previous year. Of all participants 69% reported they did not use condoms during their sexual encounters. White students were more knowledgeable about AIDS than their peers from minority groups. Although all participants were aware they could not contract the AIDS virus through common social interaction, 80% reported they would feel very anxious if a classmate who had AIDS continued to attend classes. These findings suggest that these undergraduate students underestimate their risk of HIV infection and so jeopardize their health.