Religiosity and Motivation for Preventative Behaviour towards HIV/AIDS Infection Among University Students

Problem Statement:we consider it pertinent to question students about the practice of a religion to the extent of how this variable could, given each person’s religious values, influence their preventative behaviour towards HIV/AIDS infection.

 

 

Purpose of Study: How a religion is practiced, is reflected on the preventative behaviour towards HIV/AIDS infection among university students;

 

 

Research Methods: a quantitative, descriptive and correlational study with a sample of 2002 students (60.7% female) between 17 and 68 years old, (M=21.76 ± 4.43), ranging from the first and last years of universities in the Northern and Central areas of Portugal. The protocol for data gathering included personal, academic information as well as information on religious practices and the scale of preventative behaviour.

 

 

Findings: 65.2% indicated practicing a religion while 34.8% reported not having any religious practice. Of those who practice a religion, 66.4% were female and 36.6% were male. Of those who practice a religion, 57.9% had been sexually active in the last month and of those who do not practice any religion 65.3% had been sexually active in the last month. Those who practice a religion discuss safe sex with their partner and are those who least buy condoms. Those who practice a religion have better statistics in being motivated to adopt preventative behaviour but the differences are only significant when it comes to discussing safe sex and not having sex.

 

 

Conclusions: It is known that various religions and their leaders have a significant role in forming cultural, social and ethical-evaluative traits among youth throughout the world. From the logical point of view, it seems that reasoning is exemplary but the problem is that AIDS is not a matter of logic, but it is a world problem that continues to be growing.