The Relationship of Self-Efficacy with Awareness and Perceptiveness Severity and Benefits in Regard to Adopting AIDS Preventive Behaviors among Students of Kerman University of Medical Sciences in 2011

AIDS is one of the most serious and fatal infectious diseases. The self-efficacy of preventive behaviors can be effective in promoting health and controlling the major problems of the world. This study was carried out to find the relationship between self-efficacy and perceptiveness, benefits and severity in regard to adopting AIDS preventive behaviours among university students. This study was done with 296 students in Kerman University of Medical Sciences who were enrolled into this cross-sectional descriptive-analytic study by stratified random sampling in 2011. Data were collected by a questionnaire including demographic part, awareness-testing questions and constructs of perceived susceptibility, severity, benefits and self-efficacy. Judgment criteria for ranking the participants were levels of responding less than 50% and over 75%. Data analysis was performed using independent t test, ANOVA, x2 test and Pearson correlation coefficient. 44.7% of the self-efficacy score, 58.8% of the knowledge score and 80.3% of perceived benefits score of students were assessed as suitable levels. While only 3.5% of sensitivity score and less than 1% of perceived severity score were in good levels. Self-efficacy score showed significant relationship with gender (p=0.004), perceived awareness (p=0.001) and perceived benefits (p=0.000); while, it released no significant relationship with age, field of study, marital status and perceived susceptibility and severity (p>0.05). It seems that it will have useful results to pay attention to the role of awareness and perceived benefits in order to increasing self-efficacy of participants. It is recommended in future studies should examine the relationship between these structures and AIDS preventive behaviours.