A longitudinal comparison of the AIDS-related attitudes and knowledge of parents and their children

As part of an evaluation of an experimental school-based AIDS risk-reduction program, data from 2,392 middle-school students in 15 high-risk school districts and from 1,627 of their parents were compared to examine how young adolescents and their parents differ with respect to AIDs-related knowledge and attitudes. At the time of the seventh-grade pretest, parents knew significantly more about AIDS than their children did. At the eighth-grade posttest, students who participated in the program knew either more than or at least as much as their parents in several subject areas, while among those not exposed to the program, parents still knew more than their children in most areas. The intervention had a positive impact on students' attitudes toward people with AIDS and on their degree of comfort about discussing with their parents such issues as drug use and sexuality.