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Abstract
The aim of this study was to develop a new 29-item HIV/AIDS knowledge measure and to examine its psychometric properties for three samples of adults: non-HIV-positive heterosexual people, non-HIV-positive men who have sex with men (MSM), and people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). The authors collected data using an online questionnaire. A total of 9,349 Italian individuals agreed to participate in the study: 694 individuals (7.4%) were PLWHA, 5,232 (56.0%) were HIV negative, and the remaining 3,423 (36.6%) were MSM. Using two-parameter item response theory analysis, a bifactor model was found to be better fitting than a one-factor model or a 12 correlated first-order factor model. Differential item functioning showed evidence of measurement nonequivalence of the instrument for the three samples of adults. The reliability of HIV/AIDS knowledge scale among PLWHA was satisfactory. Criterion-related validity was only achieved among non-HIV-positive heterosexual people, non-HIV-positive MSM, as the HIV/AIDS knowledge scale was related with attitudes toward condom use, condom use with casual partners, unknown HIV status of partner, and HIV stigma. Among non-HIV-positive heterosexual people, the HIV/AIDS knowledge scale adds to the prediction of condom use above that of attitudes toward condom use scale. The HIV/AIDS knowledge scale is especially discriminating at low to medium levels of knowledge.
Acknowledgments
All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Italian Association of Psychology and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.