DECISION-MAKING ORIENTATION AND AIDS-RELATED KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDES, AND BEHAVIORS OF HISPANIC, AFRICAN-AMERICAN, AND WHITE ADOLESCENTS

How adolescents' personal sense of directedness (i.e., peer, parent, or self-directed orientation affects the decision-making processes of adolescent students regarding AIDS-related knowledge, attitudes. beliefs, behaviors, and skills (KABBS) is examined. The sample consisted of 10th-grade students in 8 public high schools (N = 2,515) in Dade County (greater Miami). Florida. The findings showed that decision-making orientation and directedness was a significant predictor of AIDS-related KABBS of adolescents. Overall, the level of AIDS-related KABBS that were associated with low risk was found significantly more often among self-directed students and least often among, peer-directed students. The findings of this study suggest that future preadult health-risk research should incorporate the concept of differences of information processing across adolescents