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Biomedical subjects

P Sheeran

Publications and source records attributed to P Sheeran.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Health beliefs and promotion of HIV-preventive intentions among teenagers: a Scottish perspective.

Beliefs concerning the spread of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and preventive behaviors were examined in a sample of 351 sexually active Scottish teenagers. A postal questionnaire, including measures of variables specified by the health belief model (HBM) and preventive intentions, was employed. The relation between HBM measures and reported endorsement of HIV-preventive intentions was investigated. Results indicated that, in general, respondents intended to use condoms with new sexual partners. The majority also intended to carry condoms if they thought they might have sex with a new partner and to ask potential partners about their previous sexual history. Multiple-regression analyses showed that measures of health beliefs, gender, age, sexual experience, and previous condom use accounted for 17.8% to 24.3% of the variance in reported preventive intentions. Perceived barriers to preventive behaviors were found to be important predictors. However, the overall pattern of results raised questions concerning the adequacy of the HBM as a model of the determinants of HIV-preventive intentions, and the need for an extended model is discussed. Separate analyses were conducted for men and women and for 16- and 18-year-olds, and the implications for modeling intention formation in these subgroups are considered. The relevance of these findings to HIV-preventive campaigns is also discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Context and content: the impact of school-leaving and school-based health education on AIDS-relevant cognitions.

A survey examined health beliefs and intentions among 690 16-18 year-olds in Dundee. Respondents in the younger cohort (n = 363) were classified according to their educational situation (at school vs left) and self-reports of having received AIDS/HIV-relevant health education. Both remaining in school and receiving AIDS/HIV-relevant health education had independent beneficial effects, but the effects of leaving school also interacted with sex of respondent and with amount of relevant education received prior to leaving. Males' and females' reliance on mass media and other information sources diverged once they left school, indicating that males who leave school early are most likely to disregard useful or important information regarding AIDS. Consistent with this finding, leaving school reduced the difference between males' and females' intention to use condoms with a new partner. The beneficial impact of having previously received AIDS/HIV-relevant education on beliefs concerning the controllability of the epidemic and on feeling worried about everyday contact with a person with HIV/AIDS, was most marked among those who had left school. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for health education strategies.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Social judgements of sex and blame in the context of AIDS: gender and linguistic frame.

A questionnaire study (N = 318) examined social judgements of sexually active males and females on positive and negative evaluative dimensions, as a function of the perceiver's gender, and the linguistic frame of judgement. This frame was manipulated by requiring respondents to rate themselves on a number of descriptive dimensions which evaluatively favoured either a 'liberal' or a 'conservative' approach to sex and personal relationships, before making their judgements. Female targets were rated more negatively than males on both evaluative dimensions. There were also significant interactions between the framing manipulation and both subject and target gender for the evaluatively positive measure. There was some evidence of females being perceived more positively in the liberal than the conservative frame and within the conservative frame they were judged less positively than male targets. Male subjects tended to rate targets more positively in the liberal frame whereas females did not. Judgements of blame and personal responsibility in the context of AIDS were examined as a function of the independent variables and also revealed gender differences. These factors, and particularly the importance of language in framing the context of self-perception and social judgement, are discussed.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗