Methodological Issues in Assessing AIDS Prevention Programs

The Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) epidemic has chal lenged the ingenuity of behavioral researchers to develop effective AIDS prevention programs that extend beyond the transmission of factual knowledge alone. Four potential methodological barriers to program de velopment and evaluation were identified during the pilot stages of pro ducing a comprehensive AIDS prevention program for adolescents. These include: (a) the development of questions about AIDS that are not ambiguous and potentially misleading, within the context of rapidly changing medical information; (b) the inconsistency of adolescents' per ceived threat of AIDS, perception of efficacy in implementing safe acts, and internal health locus of control (personalized knowledge of AIDS) across questionnaires, focus groups, and interviews; (c) potential under reporting of substance abuse in institutional settings; and (d) the feasi bility of gathering personally-sensitive information concerning sex and drug-use histories by interviews. Strategies for overcoming potential methodological problems are discussed.