National AIDS education campaign benchmark survey 1986-1987: adolescents

In the early 1980's the Commonwealth and State Governments moved rapidly to provide information to groups at high-risk of contracting the AIDS virus. The AIDS Task Force and NACAIDS then decided that a comprehensive education campaign to inform the public about AIDS was necessary. These studies (SSDA No. 564 - 569) were commissioned in 1986 to provide information to develop strategies for AIDS prevention education, and to provide a benchmark against which to measure the effectiveness of the National AIDS Education Program. It was decided that the study should cover four groups - adults (the general population aged 16 to 60), adolescents (aged 12 to 15), homosexual and bisexual men, and intra-venous drug users. This study covers the adolescent sample. The data collected covered: knowledge of AIDS; information sources about AIDS; sex education; description of heterosexual and homosexual sexuality; understanding of sexual terms; perception of groups at high risk of AIDS; knowledge of transmission of the AIDS virus; perceptions and attitudes relating to sex and AIDS; fear of catching the AIDS virus; response to other adolescents who are HIV positive; alcohol, cigarette and drug use; sexual behaviour; contraceptive use; knowledge of gay people; knowledge of IV drug users. Background variables include media consumption, sex, age, region, country of birth, church attendance, comics, name of school, type of school, year at school, occupation of parents.