Knowledge, Attitude, and Perception toward Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome of Social Studies Students

Abstract

The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) stands as a global health threat, potentially leading to Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) if left untreated. In this study, the researcher utilized a descriptive correlational design to measure and provide a description about the level of knowledge, attitude, and perception and determine the mediating effect of perception on the relationship between knowledge and attitude in regard to HIV/AIDS. Stratified random sampling was utilized to determine participants on each participating schools, then validated questionnaires were disseminated to elicit information from the three hundred twenty-two (322) Social Studies students. Furthermore, the study used mean to measure the level of each variable, while the correlation between knowledge and attitude and perception and attitude was statistically determined by using Pearson’s ii Correlation. Linear Regression was administered to look if perception has direct influence on the correlation between knowledge and attitude about HIV and AIDS. The result revealed that respondents are knowledgeable, possess good perception, and neutral attitude toward HIV/AIDS. Also, knowledge and perception were found to have a tendency to influence the attitude of students. Additionally, perception was found to have a direct influence on the correlation between the respondents’ knowledge and attitude. It is recommended that future interventions on HIV/AIDS must not only focus on providing information but also to foster good perception in order to promote positive attitude.