AIDS and college health: knowledge, threat, and prevention at a northeastern university

We performed secondary analyses on data originally collected by telephone from a random sample of 294 undergraduates from a large northeastern university to examine students' knowledge about acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and the students' reactions to the health threat posed by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Our findings indicated that students are reasonably well informed about AIDS, are aware of the recommended precautions for avoiding HIV infection, and are fearful that the virus may spread within the student population. These data also show that students are reluctant to change their sexual behavior unless the threat of infection is personalized. The implications of our findings for future research are briefly discussed.