Which Is More Important to High School Students: Preventing Pregnancy or Preventing AIDS?

Abstract

A sample of about 2,900 high school students in greater Miami, Florida, was surveyed to determine their attitudes toward pregnancy prevention vs. AIDS prevention and how these attitudes affect condom use. Female, Hispanic and black respondents were the most likely to consider pregnancy and AIDS prevention to be equally important. White non-Hispanics and males were relatively more likely to believe that preventing pregnancy is less important than preventing AIDS, whereas males and females involved in a steady relationship placed more emphasis on pregnancy prevention than AIDS prevention. The more knowledge about HIV and AIDS a respondent had, the less importance he or she placed on pregnancy prevention, and as the importance of preventing pregnancy declined, so did the frequency of condom use. Males who were in a steady dating relationship and perceived pregnancy prevention as more important than AIDS prevention were the most likely to report using condoms often.