TY - JOUR
T1 - HIV-related knowledge and perceptions by academic major
T2 - Implications for university interventions
AU - Smith, Matthew Lee
AU - La Place, Lisa L.
AU - Menn, Mindy
AU - Wilson, Kelly L.
N1 - Funding Information:
Within the last decade, initiatives from the National Science Foundation, the White House, National Academies, and the United States Department of Education increased funding for programs to increase students’interest,enrollment,and completion of STEM degrees; further cementing the dichotomy of STEM and non-STEM majors. As a natural result of this increased funding, dichotomization, and attention, numerous authors have compared STEM and non-STEM majors regarding enrollment, persistence, andgraduationrates(13–17).Conversely,noidentifiedresearchers have explored the relationship between students’ majors and perceptions of HIV; therefore the purposes of this study were to: (1) identify participant’s perceived knowledge about HIV/AIDS, perceived risk, and perceived consequences among college students; and (2) examine how these factors differ by academic major. Recognizing that students in certain fields of study are exposed to more health protective information than students in other disciplines, the authors hypothesized that health and kinesiology (HK) majors would self-report higher levels of knowledge regarding HIV/AIDS and have more accurate perceptions of HIV-related risk factors and consequences than students in other majors.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 Smith,La Place,Mennand Wilson.
PY - 2014/3/12
Y1 - 2014/3/12
N2 - Most universities offer human sexuality courses, although they are not required for graduation. While students in health-related majors may receive sexuality education in formal settings, majority of college students never receive formal sexual health or HIV/AIDSrelated education, which may lead to elevated engagement in high-risk sexual behaviors. This study examines perceived knowledge about HIV/AIDS, perceived risk, and perceived consequences among college students by two distinct classifications of academic majors. Data were collected from 510 college students. Binary and multinomial logistic regressions were performed to compare HIV-related covariates by academic major category. Limited differences were observed by science, technology, engineering, and mathematics categorization. Relative to health and kinesiology majors, those who self-reported being "completely knowledgeable" about HIVwere less likely to be physical sciences, mathematics, engineering, and business (PMEB) (ORD0.41, P D0.047) or education, humanities, and social sciences majors (ORD0.25, P D0.004). PMEB majors were less likely to report behavioral factors as a risk for contracting HIV (ORD0.86, P D0.004) and perceived acquiring HIV would be more detrimental to their quality of life (ORD2.14, P D0.012), but less detrimental to their mental well-being (ORD0.58, P D0.042). Findings can inform collegewide campaigns and interventions to raise HIV/AIDS awareness and improve college health.
AB - Most universities offer human sexuality courses, although they are not required for graduation. While students in health-related majors may receive sexuality education in formal settings, majority of college students never receive formal sexual health or HIV/AIDSrelated education, which may lead to elevated engagement in high-risk sexual behaviors. This study examines perceived knowledge about HIV/AIDS, perceived risk, and perceived consequences among college students by two distinct classifications of academic majors. Data were collected from 510 college students. Binary and multinomial logistic regressions were performed to compare HIV-related covariates by academic major category. Limited differences were observed by science, technology, engineering, and mathematics categorization. Relative to health and kinesiology majors, those who self-reported being "completely knowledgeable" about HIVwere less likely to be physical sciences, mathematics, engineering, and business (PMEB) (ORD0.41, P D0.047) or education, humanities, and social sciences majors (ORD0.25, P D0.004). PMEB majors were less likely to report behavioral factors as a risk for contracting HIV (ORD0.86, P D0.004) and perceived acquiring HIV would be more detrimental to their quality of life (ORD2.14, P D0.012), but less detrimental to their mental well-being (ORD0.58, P D0.042). Findings can inform collegewide campaigns and interventions to raise HIV/AIDS awareness and improve college health.
KW - AIDS
KW - Academic major
KW - College students
KW - HIV
KW - Perceived risk
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U2 - 10.3389/fpubh.2014.00018
DO - 10.3389/fpubh.2014.00018
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85029293068
VL - 2
JO - Frontiers in Public Health
JF - Frontiers in Public Health
SN - 2296-2565
IS - MAR
M1 - 18
ER -