Young people assess their risk of sexually transmissible diseases

Abstract

Perception of risk of ten diseases — five STDs and five non-STDs — along with participant beliefs about disease commonness, seriousness, personal control over contraction, extent to which the disease was likely to happen to a particular type of person, and personal knowledge of a sufferer, were assessed in a sample of 477 undergraduate college students ranging in age from 17 to 20 years (mean age 18.6 years). Participant attitudes to and perceived knowledge of each disease were also investigated. Results showed that young people confess to being ignorant about STDs, consider them dirty and disgusting, do not feel confident about being able to avoid contraction, and may underestimate their vulnerability, especially to STDs other than AIDS. Perceived vulnerability to disease was predicted by perceived disease commonness, and in some cases, by knowledge of a sufferer, beliefs about lack of control over contraction, and low stereotyping of a typical disease ‘victim’.