HIV/AIDS - An Attitudinal Survey
Final Report

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Appendix B: Youth Profile

The following is a profile of youth opinions, perceptions and attitudes regarding HIV/AIDS, compared to the overall views of Canadians in general.

a) Knowledge and Awareness

• More youth are misinformed about the risk of mosquito bites in the transmission of HIV/AIDS than Canadians in general (37 per cent cited is as a method of transmission versus 25 per cent of the overall sample);
   
• Young Canadians are less apt to indicate injection drug users (15 versus 31 per cent overall) and homosexual men (23 versus 47 per cent overall) as being mostly affected by HIV/AIDS and, in general, are less apt to name any group that has been most affected by the disease (51 versus 30 per cent overall);
   
• More youth are focused on the risk of pregnancy when thinking about safer sex (30 versus 17 per cent overall);
   
• Youth are less knowledgeable regarding methods of testing for HIV/AIDS. Slightly higher proportions than the overall average of all Canadians believe that physical examinations and doctors' visits can be used for testing, and proportionately fewer indicated blood tests as a means for testing (71 versus 81 per cent in the overall sample);
   
• Fewer youth have faith in the existence of effective treatments for HIV/AIDS compared with the broader Canadian public (40 versus 49 per cent);
   
• Youth are less apt to know who is responsible for coordinating the Canadian Strategy for HIV/AIDS (56 versus 46 per cent do not know).

b) Perceptions of Risk

• Slightly higher proportions of youth perceive themselves to be at some risk of contracting HIV/AIDS (13 versus 7 per cent indicate a moderate level of risk) and that the general risk of contracting HIV/AIDS is higher today compared to five years ago (59 versus 46 per cent);
   
• Youth are the most likely group of Canadians to perceive an increased rate of HIV/AIDS infection in Canada compared to ten years ago (80 versus 71 per cent);
   
• Youth are more likely than the overall population to believe that HIV testing has increased over the last ten years (83 versus 72 per cent), that there has been an increase in safer sex practices (67 versus 58 per cent) and that those infected with the disease are more diligent in taking steps to protect others (70 versus 61 per cent).

c) Information Sources

• In terms of obtaining HIV/AIDS-related information, youth are less likely than Canadians in general to cite the following sources: newspaper articles (20 versus 46 per cent); television news (41 versus 53 per cent), health magazines (21 versus 28 per cent), radio news (six versus 13 per cent) and television health programs (15 versus 21 per cent). On the other hand, as might be expected, they are more apt to cite school as an information source (65 versus 17 per cent). Similarly, youth cite the same preferences for sources of general health information;
   
• Youth are more likely to consider health care professionals (87 versus 75 per cent), the scientific research community (77 versus 70 per cent) and Health Canada (78 versus 67 per cent) to be reliable sources of information. They show even less faith in the media than the national average (12 versus 18 per cent).

d) Tolerance Towards People with HIV/AIDS

• Youth are more likely than the overall Canadian population to say that they could be friends with someone infected with HIV/AIDS (93 versus 84 per cent). They are also more likely to believe that people with HIV/AIDS should be allowed to serve the public in positions like hairstylists (77 versus 67 per cent) or dentists and cooks (49 versus 38 per cent);
   
• Youth are more comfortable with the idea of shopping at a small neighbourhood grocery store where the owner is infected with HIV/AIDS (76 versus 67 per cent overall);
   
• They are the least likely segment of Canadian society to know or have known someone with HIV/AIDS (27 versus 39 per cent).

e) Behaviour

• Youth are more likely than the Canadian population to have had two or more sexual partners in the past year (34 versus 11 per cent) and are also more likely to report casual partners (31 versus 13 per cent);
   
• As a result, they are more likely to practice safer sex all or most of the time and mainly report the use of a condom (84 versus 72 per cent) in the last year;
   
• Youth are more likely than Canadians in general to report having changed their practices regarding safer sex in the past 12 months (18 versus 7 per cent) and are primarily motivated by the risk of STDs as the primary reason for practicing safer sex (37 versus 27 per cent);
   
• Among those who have been tested for HIV in the past two years, youth are the most likely to have been tested once or more (91 versus 56 per cent), likely because the start of their sexual activity is more recent.

f) Government Involvement

• Youth are the most likely segment of Canadian society to believe that public education is a current federal government focus (36 versus 28 per cent);
   
• They are more likely than the broader Canadian public to believe that the federal government should focus more attention on prevention of the disease (68 versus 58 per cent) and that the focus should be international (39 versus 30 per cent).

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