AIDS: Attitudes, knowledge and behavior of university students

A questionnaire regarding AIDS-related attitudes, knowledge and behavior was administered to 352 students of psychology, sociology, high medical school, medicine, graphic technology and architecture. The overall knowledge level was good, since our subjects answered 85 percent of the questions correctly Contrary to some other findings, there was no difference in the knowledge level between male and female students. Attitudes indicated a moderately liberal orientation toward AIDS related issues and there was no difference between males and females. Considering sexual behavior, the results indicated decrease in sexually risky behaviors, but also showed an ever lower age of the first intercourse, especially among female students. The results indicated more risky behaviors among male students. Attitudes-knowledge-behavior relationship indicated moderate correlation between knowledge and attitude (0.355). Low negative correlation between knowledge and behavior was also found. There was no correlation between attitude and behavior. Results are compared with some earlier studies conducted in Croatia. The importance of constant informing and education for healthy and responsible sexuality was stressed.