Dissertations and Theses @ UNI
Award Winner
Recipient of the 1994 Outstanding Master's Thesis Award - Third Place.
To go to the Graduate Student Award Recipients collection page, click here.
Availability
Open Access Thesis
Keywords
Teenagers--Health risk assessment; AIDS (Disease) in adolescence--Prevention;
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to replicate Hays's (1992) methodology and extend her sample size. Replication of Hays's (1992) results would allow for generalization and would lend support to the path model of sexual activity she proposed.
Subjects for the study were 529 ninth grade students attending four schools in a rural midwestern state. Of the four schools, three were public schools and one was a parochial school. The parochial school was made up of two separate buildings, one located in a metropolitan area and the other in a rural area. Although the buildings were considered to be combined as one school, each building employed different personnel and was attended by different students. Of the public schools, two were located in a rural area and the remaining school was located in a metropolitan area. In the three public schools, the subjects for the study were enrolled in social studies. In the remaining parochial school, the subjects attending one building were enrolled in world history, while those attending the other building were enrolled in theology. These courses were mandatory requirements of all ninth grade students.
The sample was surveyed by means of a questionnaire compiled by Hays (1992). This questionnaire was a combination of two previously developed questionnaires: the Susceptibility to Peer Pressure, Self-Esteem, and Health Locus of Control questionnaire developed by T. E. Dielman, and a questionnaire developed by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
The data were statistically analyzed in accordance with Hays's (1992) methodology and were then cast into her path model. Of the six independent variables in the model, three were found to have a significant, direct relationship to sexual activity. Locus of control had a significant relationship to attitude, and self-esteem had an indirect relationship to sexual activity through perceived vulnerability. The most significant independent variable was peer pressure, which was a negative relationship, followed by perceived vulnerability, and knowledge. There were no significant gender differences in sexual activity. Factor analysis revealed the need for further work on the survey instrument. Targeting specific psychosocial factors influencing adolescents' behavioral choices, appears to provide direction for AIDS prevention education.
Year of Submission
1993
Year of Award
1994 Award
Degree Name
Specialist in Education
Department
Department of Educational Psychology and Foundations
First Advisor
Donald Schmits, Chair, Committee
Date Original
7-1993
Object Description
1 PDF file (vii, 101 pages)
Copyright
©1993 Erika Lea Kumerow
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Kumerow, Erika Lea, "Predicting adolescent AIDS-related risk behavior from psychosocial factors: A replication" (1993). Dissertations and Theses @ UNI. 693.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/etd/693
Comments
If you are the rightful copyright holder of this thesis and wish to have it removed from the Open Access Collection, please submit an email request to scholarworks@uni.edu. Include your name and clearly identify the thesis by full title and author as shown on the work.