Undergraduate and graduate students' attitudes towards AIDS.
Since its discovery in 1981, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) has been the source of great fear and controversy. Fear stems from uncertain risks of contagion and almost certain death once the syndrome has fully developed. AIDS has produced a number of social issues because the majority of A~S victims have been homosexual men, parenteral drug users, and minorities such as Haitian refugees (McLeod & Miller, 1985). Rights have been denied to its vinms (to maintain employment or to go to school, for instance), and misinformation appears to be influencing attitudes towards blood donation and the gay lifestyle. With no known cure for AIDS and medical consensus that a vaccine is several ycars away, human service professionals will continue to have important roles in directly serving and advocating for ADS victims, as well as educating the ill-informed. Several authors have delineated the roles of helping professionals with regard to Ams (Furstenberg & Olson, 1984; Lopez & Geael, 1984; Caputo, 1985; Baumgartner, 1985). However, wich the exception of a study which essentially explored homophobia among physicians and nurses (Douglas, Kalman, & Kalman, 1985) there is practically no research on the attitudes of professionals or professionals in training regarding AIDS victims. The purpose of this research was to explore how fear of ADS may be associated with knowledge about AIDS and empathy towards AIDS victims, using an available sample of undergraduate and graduate students enrolled at the University of Kentucky. The effects of age, sex, race, and years of education on fear of AIDS were also examined. In the sample of 219 respondents 86 (39%) were undergraduate social work majors and 79 (36%) were graduate students in social work. The balance of the respondents (54) had other undergraduate majors. The mean age of the respondents was 27.8 yr. (range, 19 to 59 yr.). The majority were white (86%) and women (74%) A questionnaire using a >-point Likert-type response scale was consuucted from 3. review of salient issues appearing in the popular press. Three scales, a Knowledge Scale, a Fear Scale, and an Empathy Scale were devised from items on the instrument. The Knowledge Scale was created by summing the responses to three items (a = 66). These items asked whether the respondent agreed or disagreed with statements regarding the possibility of getting A~S from toilet seats in public restrooms or from gay employees of restaurants. The third item asked the respondents to rate their agreement or disagreement with the statement, "Over-all, I think I am well-informed about AIDS." Scores ranged from the possible 3 to 15 (M = 10.4, SD = 2.5). The Fear Scale had six items (a = .67) on which the respondent agreed or disagreed chat persons having AIDS should be quarantined, registered with the local health