NCJ Number
138872
Journal
AIDS Education and Prevention, Supplement Dated: (Fall 1992) Pages: 43-56
Date Published
1992
Length
14 pages
Annotation
A survey of 3,000 Norwegian adolescents ages 17 to 19 was used to determine their awareness of a public information campaign to combat the spread of AIDS. The campaign was designed to mobilize the youth culture by encouraging adolescents to internalize existing knowledge about AIDS and improve consistency between knowledge and sexual behavior.
Abstract
The five different elements in the campaigna rock concert, pop song, video, novel, and musicalwere all connected to the media or to activities in the adolescents' social environment. This combined strategy had previously shown some success in reducing the rate of adolescent smoking in Norway. The campaign slogan, "Talk about sex, about being in love, and about love," referred to AIDS only indirectly, with the result that many adolescents did not receive the subtle message behind the campaign. While 27.5 percent of respondents had a general awareness of the campaign, knowledge of the different elements ranged from 2.4 percent to 24 percent. It did not appear that the campaign instigated a higher rate of condom use among Norwegian adolescents. The author speculates that the campaign would have been more successful using a direct message. 5 tables and 27 references.