School psychologists' knowledge and attitudes about AIDS
Abstract (summary)
This study investigated school psychologists' knowledge and attitudes about AIDS using the AIDS in the Schools Knowledge and Attitude Inventory (ASKAI) designed specifically for this study. The ASKAI collected information on lack of fear of AIDS, attitude about AIDS as a school system issue, perceptions about the danger of work related transmission of the AIDS virus, comfort level in teaching about AIDS, total knowledge which was broken down into knowledge about terms and definitions, knowledge about transmission and knowledge about incidence rates and demographic information.
Five hundred surveys were sent to randomly selected members of the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP). The response rate of 45% yielded 224 surveys. The 195 surveys completed by practicing members of NASP were analyzed for this study. Information on degree held, years practicing, gender, ethnicity, and setting was collected. Participants were also asked to report on participation in AIDS training and personal and professional contact with someone with AIDS or who is HIV+.
Overall, contact level had some effect on lack of fear and perceptions about work related transmission of the virus. Contact with a student who has AIDS or is HIV+ had no significant effect on scores while contact with a student with an infected parent had a significant effect on comfort in teaching about AIDS only. Contact with a friend or family member was found to significantly explain variance on all subtest scores except comfort in teaching about AIDS and knowledge about transmission. Contact with a friend or family member contributed significantly to the explanation of subtest variance on more of the scales than did any other variable examined.
Indexing (details)
Health education
0680: Health education