Some determinants of fear about AIDS among Australian college students.

An 18-item questionnaire assessing attitudes toward AIDS and homosexuality was administered to 420 Australian tertiary students. The predictive power of attitudes toward homosexuality, empathy toward AIDS sufferers, knowledge about AIDS, church attendance, age, and sex was tested using independent and stepwise multiple-regression analyses. In the stepwise analysis attitudes toward homosexuality and empathy toward AIDS sufferers were the major contributors to fear about AIDS. Church attendance and age improved the over-all prediction significantly, but only slightly. In the independent analysis all variables, except church attendance, were significant predictors. Educational programmes on AIDS should address the relationship between homosexuality and fear of AIDS.