Investigating children's knowledge and understanding of AIDS

Though AIDS education in schools reaches many adolescents, the incidence of adolescent HIV infection has risen dramatically. Reasons for failure to properly educate adolescents include not educating children prior to adolescence and neglecting to assess and address children's varying levels of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of school health 1993-03, Vol.63 (3), p.125-129
Main Authors: Obeidallah, Dawn, Turner, Patricia, Iannotti, Ronald J., O'Brien, Robert W., Haynie, Denise, Galper, Daniel
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
acquired immunodeficiency syndrome
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome - prevention & control
age differences
AIDS
AIDS (Disease)
AIDS/HIV
Attitude to Health
Child
Children
Children & youth
Curriculum Development
Data Collection - methods
Educational Needs
Elementary Education
Elementary School Students
Evaluation
Evaluation Methods
Grade 1
Grade 3
Grade 5
Guidelines
Health attitudes
Health education
Health Education - methods
Humans
Intellectual Development
Interviews
Knowledge
Knowledge Level
Nursing
Piagetian Theory
school children
Schools
Study and teaching
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Summary:Though AIDS education in schools reaches many adolescents, the incidence of adolescent HIV infection has risen dramatically. Reasons for failure to properly educate adolescents include not educating children prior to adolescence and neglecting to assess and address children's varying levels of cognitive development when designing AIDS education programs. Citing examples from a study of more than 600 elementary-age schoolchildren, this paper focuses on the importance of assessing children's understanding of disease processes rather than accepting their use of key phrases in appropriate contexts as reflecting knowledge, and using the level at which they understand disease processes rather than age as the primary determinant of students' readiness for comprehending AIDS-related concepts. Guidelines for assessing how well children understand disease processes, including use of nonleading probes, are presented.
ISSN:0022-4391
1746-1561
DOI:10.1111/j.1746-1561.1993.tb06097.x