Developing the Attitude Scale Toward People Living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) for University Students

INTRODUCTION: This research was conducted to develop Attitude Scale toward People Living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired İmmune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS), which would determine university students’ attitudes toward people living with HIV/AIDS.
METHODS: This methodological research was carried out at Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University between October 2017 and June 2018. The 25-item draft scale created in line with literature was applied to 286 students from different departments. Cronbach Alpha value was used for reliability analysis. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) were performed to analyze construct validity. Test-retest reliability coefficient was evaluated by Pearson Correlation and dependent-samples t-test. Independent-sample t-test, one-way ANOVA, and Kruskall−Wallis tests were used to analyze data on students’ attitude scores.
RESULTS: As a result of AFA, structure with 4 sub-dimensions and 18 items were obtained. This structure explained 59.83% of total variance. Cronbach’s alpha value of the scale was calculated as 0.85. Compliance index values for the CFA results were NFI = 0.94, NNFI = 0.96, IFI = 0.97, CFI = 0.97, RMSEA = 0.060, GFI = 0.91, AGFI = 0.87, SRMR = 0.089. In test−retest reliability analysis, it was determined that scale gave similar results in repeated measurements at different times (r = 0.783, P <.001).
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: This scale was determined to be a valid and reliable measurement tool in deter-mining university students’ attitudes toward people living with HIV/AIDS.