Abstract
A summated-rating scale of the Likert-type was constructed to measure the cognitive, affective, and conative components of young adults' attitudes toward sexually transmitted diseases (STD). A table of specifications was developed to include a subscale for each of the three attitude components with conceptual emphasis including the Nature of STD, Prevention of STD, and Treatment of STD. After extensive item development, three experimental forms of 45 items each (15 items per subscale) were administered to a large sample of undergraduate college students to gather evidence of item function. Then a scale reduced to the best 45 items was administered to a small sample of high school students. Analysis of this administration produced a 33-item scale having 11 items per subscale. This scale was given to 2,980 secondary school students in six school districts in the midwestern and eastern section of the United States. Statistical analysis produced a final scale of 27 items, with 9 items for each subscale. Results demonstrated highly significant levels of internal consistency and discriminatory power of items and moderate reliability levels for the subscales and the total scale. The scale has also been shown to be sensitive to positive attitude change resulting from STD education, providing evidence of its construct validity.