Learning from Norwegian experience: attempts to mobilize the youth culture to fight the AIDS epidemic.
This study describes to what extent Norwegian adolescents were aware of a campaign to combat the spread of AIDS, and their participation in the various components. The material comprised a nationwide representative sample of 3000 adolescents aged 17 through 19 years. Data were collected by means of self-administered, anonymous questionnaires. The response rate was 62.8%. The intention of the campaign was to mobilize the youth culture in the fight against AIDS with a view to internalizing existing knowledge about HIV and AIDS in the hope of improving consistency between knowledge and sexual behavior. The campaign included five elements connected to the use of media and activities in the adolescents' social environment. The campaign slogan--Talk about sex, about being in love and about love--was referred to AIDS only indirectly. The medium used to communicate the message was rock music. Over one quarter of the adolescents reported a general awareness of the campaign. Awareness of the different elements varied between 2.4% and 24.0%. Use of condoms was apparently no higher among adolescents who were generally aware of the campaign than among adolescents with no knowledge of it. The adolescents had not grasped any specific message from the campaign. The campaign would probably have been more successful if the message had been more direct and more specific to the context.
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Department of Epidemiology, National Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D000328:Adult; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000517:prevention & control; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008402:Mass Media; D009313:National Health Programs; D009664:Norway