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This article presents information on a telephone survey conducted to measure AIDS knowledge, media usage and condom attitudes and behaviors among 500 adults aged 18 to 49 in Brasilia, Brazil. Researchers undertook this study to ascertain if a telephone survey to determine AIDS knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors would be feasible in Brasilia. In general, demographic predictors of condom use are far less important than psychosocial ones in designing interventions. In this study, several psychosocial variables related to condoms were measured. Of these, only the Condom Attitudes Scale, despite its low reliability, showed a significant relationship with condom use in the past month. Although most respondents who were sexually active believed that condoms were easy to use and that condoms could prevent pregnancy and venereal disease, and few believed that condoms were against their religion, those who actually used condoms were slightly more likely to believe condoms were effective in preventing pregnancy.

This investigation studied the effects of acculturation on attitudinal familism in 452 Hispanics compared to 227 white nonHispanics. Despite differences in the national origin of Hispanics, Mexican-, Central -and Cuban-Americans reported similar attitudes toward the family indicating that familism is a core characteristic in the Hispanic culture. Three basic dimensions of familism were found: Familial obligations, perceived support from the family and family as referents. The high level of perceived family support, invariable despite changes in acculturation, is the most essential dimension of Hispanic familism. Familial obligations and the perception of the family as referents appear to diminish with the level of acculturation, but the perception of family support doesn't change. Although these two dimensions of familism decrease concurrently with the level of acculturation, the attitudes of persons with high levels of acculturation are more familistic than those of white nonHispanics. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Understanding how acculturation and gender affect Hispanics' sexual behavior is needed to prevent infection with the human immunodeficiency virus. We examined differences in and correlates of condom use among 398 Hispanics and 540 non-Hispanic Whites in San Francisco who were part of a random probability sample of unmarried adults. Hispanic women reported fewer sexual partners than all other groups. Condom use was low in all groups, but Spanish-speaking Hispanic women reported lower condom use than White women. Hispanics, generally, had poorer attitudes toward condoms and were less likely than non-Hispanic Whites to believe they could avoid acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Hispanics need targeted prevention interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]