Young People and HIV/AIDS 1995-2001
  • A decline in 12-15 year olds’ knowledge about the dangers of HIV/AIDS
  • The more young people feel in control of their health, the less likely they are to worry about HIV/AIDS
  • Better understanding of sexual health is not always matched with less worry
New data from surveys across the UK reveal a decline in 12-15 year olds’ knowledge about the dangers of HIV/AIDS. Figures from 1995-2001, (see tables), using a sample of 142,281 young people, show a declining trend of youngsters who think that HIV can be passed on by:
  • Drug taking (sharing needles)
    For example, in 1995 82% of 12-13 year old females compared with 59% of the same age group in 2001, said Yes - HIV can be passed on by sharing needles when taking drugs
  • Receiving blood via a blood transfusion in the UK
    For example, in 1995 45% of 14-15 year old females compared with 33% of the same age group in 2001, said Yes - HIV can be passed when receiving blood in the UK via a blood transfusion
  • Contact with blood in First Aid
    For example, in 1995, 49% of 12-13 year old males compared with 36% of the same age group in 2001, said Yes - HIV can be passed when coming into contact with blood during First Aid
  • Sex without condoms
    For example, in 1995, 77% of 12-13 year old males compared with 63% of the same age group in 2001, said Yes - HIV can be passed on by having sex without condoms
When looking at the responses to all the options, (see tables), knowledge about the dangers of HIV/AIDS is greater with the females than the males in some year groups with the best knowledge with the 14-15 year old females.

Young People taking care not to get infected with HIV
Data from 1995-2001 show little change in the numbers of young people that report they will take care not to get infected with HIV. For example, around 89% in 1995 compared to around 86% in 2001, said they would take care.

Young People worrying less about HIV/AIDS
We reported in March on data from over 225,000 young people between 1993-2003 which showed that fewer 12-15 year olds reported worrying about HIV/AIDS. In 1993 up to 34% of 12-15 year olds were worried ‘quite a lot/a lot’ about this problem. This has reduced to around 7% in 2003.

We have recently explored this issue further and discovered that the more that young people feel in control of their health, the less likely they are to worry about HIV/AIDS.
For example, 16% of Year 10 females who scored highest for perceived control worried at least ‘a little’ about HIV/AIDS, compared with 27% of females of the same age who scored lowest for control.
This is a finding we warmed to, inasmuch as we hope that, as far as is realistic, young people should be encouraged to take responsibility for their decisions and control of their health, and we believe that with appropriate information and skills, young people can manage their lives in such a way as to avoid risks, and also, to some extent, worry. This positive picture is reinforced when we look at self-esteem related to their understanding of HIV/AIDS: self-esteem is highest among those pupils who correctly state that HIV/AIDS can be treated but not cured. We also saw that better knowledge of contraception is associated with better understanding of sexually transmitted infections. However, it may be that other data tell us a different story.

The ‘worried well’?Data from 2003 show that perhaps contrary to our best hopes, better understanding of sexual health is not always matched with less worry. For example, among the 14-15 year old females in our 2003 sample who correctly thought that having sex without penetration could be relied upon to prevent sexually transmitted infections like HIV, we saw more worry about HIV and AIDS (16% worried at least ‘quite a lot’ compared with 12% among those who thought that non-penetrative sex could not be relied on).
Similarly, among 14-15 year old males, we offered a list of contraceptive methods and asked if they had heard of each of them, or if they had a view on their reliability to prevent pregnancy or HIV infection. The males who said ‘never heard of it’ or ‘know nothing about it’ for items on the list were less likely to worry about HIV/AIDS, while those who were more certain about contraceptive methods were also more likely to worry about HIV/AIDS (21% compared with 15%). (A similar but less significant difference was seen among the 14 —15 year old females.)
TABLES

Can the HIV virus be passed on by any of the following? % answering YES

Yr 8 MALES (12-13 YEAR OLDS) 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
Drug taking -- by mouth 9 11 11 10 12 13 11
Drug taking -- by injection (new needle) 18 21 20 20 20 22 21
Drug taking -- by sharing needles 74 78 68 66 63 57 58
Blood donations in UK -- giving blood 24 25 24 24 21 22 22
Blood transfusions in UK -- receiving blood 36 36 35 34 30 28 27
Touching skin/shaking hands 2 7 2 2 3 3 3
From lavatory seats 5 5 6 6 7 8 8
In First Aid mouth-to-mouth resuscitation 12 12 11 9 12 14 13
In First Aid contact with blood 49 51 44 42 39 37 36
Kissing light kissing (lips only) 4 4 5 5 6 7 7
Kissing deep kissing (inside mouth) 17 19 19 17 20 21 20
Sex using condoms 7 5 7 7 7 7 8
Sex without using condoms 77 77 73 73 67 61 63
None of these 15 10 15 16 22 26 26
Available sample 4804 5288 5203 4282 6807 7166 2533


Can HIV be passed on by any of the following? % answering YES

Yr 8 FEMALES (12-13 YEAR OLDS) 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
Drug taking -- by mouth 6 7 8 8 8 10 8
Drug taking -- by injection (new needle) 16 20 18 19 19 20 19
Drug taking -- by sharing needles 82 83 72 76 68 62 59
Blood donations in UK -- giving blood 22 24 25 23 22 22 20
Blood transfusions in UK -- receiving blood 36 35 35 34 30 26 24
Touching skin/shaking hands 1 1 2 1 2 2 2
From lavatory seats 4 5 5 5 6 7 7
In First Aid mouth-to-mouth resuscitation 7 7 8 7 8 10 7
In First Aid contact with blood 50 53 47 50 43 39 34
Kissing light kissing (lips only) 3 3 4 3 4 6 5
Kissing deep kissing (inside mouth) 13 14 16 14 16 18 16
Sex using condoms 4 6 8 7 8 9 8
Sex without using condoms 81 81 76 80 72 65 66
None of these 10 7 11 10 16 22 23
Available sample 4727 5240 4708 4240 7225 7544 2249


Can HIV be passed on by any of the following? % answering YES
Yr 10 MALES (14-15 YEAR OLDS) 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
Drug taking -- by mouth 6 6 8 7 7 10 9
Drug taking -- by injection (new needle) 22 23 23 25 23 25 24
Drug taking -- by sharing needles 90 91 88 87 83 78 77
Blood donations in UK -- giving blood 21 22 22 23 22 22 23
Blood transfusions in UK -- receiving blood 40 38 39 43 36 31 33
Touching skin/shaking hands 1 2 2 2 2 2 3
From lavatory seats 4 4 4 5 5 7 7
In First Aid mouth-to-mouth resuscitation 8 8 9 8 8 11 11
In First Aid contact with blood 67 68 64 63 60 55 55
Kissing light kissing (lips only) 2 3 3 2 3 5 5
Kissing deep kissing (inside mouth) 11 11 13 12 12 16 16
Sex using condoms 8 10 8 9 10 10 10
Sex without using condoms 89 85 89 89 85 79 80
None of these 6 4 5 6 9 14 14
Available sample 3683 4446 4933 4899 7971 7034 2219


Can HIV be passed on by any of the following? % answering YES
Yr 10 FEMALES (14-15 YEAR OLDS) 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
Drug taking -- by mouth 4 4 5 4 4 6 5
Drug taking -- by injection (new needle) 17 17 19 20 21 23 20
Drug taking -- by sharing needles 93 95 92 92 89 84 81
Blood donations in UK -- giving blood 22 20 22 23 23 23 24
Blood transfusions in UK -- receiving blood 45 41 42 42 39 32 33
Touching skin/shaking hands 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
From lavatory seats 3 3 3 4 4 6 5
In First Aid mouth-to-mouth resuscitation 7 6 6 5 6 7 6
In First Aid contact with blood 70 72 70 72 68 62 59
Kissing light kissing (lips only) 1 2 2 1 1 3 2
Kissing deep kissing (inside mouth) 10 10 11 8 8 11 9
Sex using condoms 7 7 7 8 9 10 10
Sex without using condoms 93 88 93 93 91 84 84
None of these 4 3 2 3 5 10 11
Available sample 3497 4374 4394 4800 8518 7409 2088


SAMPLE TOTALS
1995-2001 Gender Total Year Total Sample Total
12-13 year old Males 36,083  
12-13 year old Females 35,933 70,265  
14-15 year old Males 35,185  
14-15 year old Females 35,080 72,016 142,281

If you require any further information contact Dr David Regis - Director and Research Manager
Tel: 01392 667272