The Impact of Education Based on Theory of Planned Behavior on Applying HIV Prevention Behaviors in Girl Adolescent

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) emerges in the new millennium as a major public health challenge. Currently, the HIV epidemic is spreading rapidly among young people. It is essential for students to provide the necessary information because they are valuable resources for the future of a country. This study was conducted to determine the impact of on applying HIV prevention behaviors in girl students in Torbat Heydariyeh.

It was a semi-experimental study that was conducted on 90 girl students. The instruments included questions related to demographic characteristics and the structures of theory of planned behavior in field of HIV. Educational intervention was conducted with emphasis on the above mentioned theory. Data were collected before, immediately and three months after training and was analyzed by chi-square, independent t-test and paired t-test, ANOVA and Repeated measures using SPSS-PC (v. 20.0).

The mean age of the students was 15/6 ± 0/46 years. There was also no difference between the groups regarding cognitive variables (attitude, intention, and subjective norm, perceived behavior control) before the intervention. The students in the experimental group reported higher scores for the cognitive variables compared with the control group (P < 0.05).

The findings revealed that training based on the new approach of HIV education based on TPB is an effective intervention in promoting HIV prevention behaviors in students.