Abstract

This paper reports the development and initial validation of scores obtained from the socio-cognitive determinants of HIV prevention measures. Series of scales developed to identify HIV prevention are knowledge, motivation and behavioral skills of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections. The study was carried out among college students attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). In the first study, the findings of exploratory factor analyses using 297 HBCU students suggest a 23-item scale with four correlated factors: HIV prevention education motivation (3 items), HIV prevention knowledge (6 items), HIV prevention personal motivation (5 items) and HIV prevention behavioral skills (3 items). Initial estimate of convergent validity for the HIV prevention measures scores were reported. The psychometric properties of the four-factor structure of HIV prevention measures derived from the first study were confirmed by confirmatory factor analyses in a second study.

Key words: HIV/AIDS prevention, college health, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, safe sex practices, information motivation-behavioral skills model (IMB Model), Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).