Attitudes toward AIDS and AIDS education among multi-ethnic parents of school-aged children in New York City.

To explore the attitudes of a multi-ethnic sample (African-American, Caucasian, Latino) of parents, a telephone survey was conducted with 297 parents whose children attend school in New York City (98 African-Americans, 100 Latinos, and 99 Caucasians). The survey interview assessed a wide range of issues related to AIDS and AIDS education. In a series of logistic regressions that controlled for education, we compared each ethnic group (African-Americans, Latinos) with Caucasians as the reference. The majority of parents indicated that they supported AIDS education efforts in the schools, but there was considerable mistrust of the government and health professionals, particularly among the African-American parents. African-American and Latino parents were more likely to perceive AIDS as a threat and believe that AIDS education is more effective for Caucasians. We discuss implications for AIDS prevention and recommend strategies to overcome barriers to AIDS education and prevention in multi-ethnic communities.