Effectiveness of distribution of information on AIDS. A national study of six media in Australia

Differential use of media for providing AIDS information and attitudes toward AIDS were assessed in a geographically stratified proportional sample of 2,601 adults in all states and territories in Australia. Data indicated that exposure to media information, regardless of type, was associated with lower levels of fear of homosexual persons and less fear of death, as well as lower levels of social conservatism. Those who obtained AIDS information from health care workers were found to have fewer unrealistic concerns. Individuals who were more homosexual in expressed sexual identity and those with other at-risk behaviors tended to get information more frequently from friends and pamphlets or posters, and those in higher occupational levels and those with high levels of personal and social concerns about AIDS tended to get their information from friends and health care workers. Electronic media were not utilized more frequently by those with at-risk behaviors. These results suggest that greater emphasis should be placed on more informal sources of information for those most at risk of HIV infection, and that the public media convey little advantage in providing information to such target groups.