Knowledge and Concern about STIs/HIV and Sociodemographic Variables Associated with Getting Tested for HIV Among the General Population in Spain.

HIV testing is important in terms of prevention and treatment. However, HIV testing rates in the Spanish general population remains low. Therefore, HIV testing promotion constitutes a key issue. A high level of knowledge about HIV/AIDS is associated with having been tested for HIV. The general aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of people who had ever been tested for HIV in Spain. The sample consisted of 1,106 participants from the general population - 60.0% females and 40.0% males - aged between 17 and 55 years old. The assessment instruments were a questionnaire on sociodemographic data and HIV testing, a scale of knowledge about STIs and HIV/AIDS, and a scale of concern about STIs/HIV. Results showed that greater knowledge about STIs and HIV was associated with a greater likelihood of being tested for HIV (OR = .77; 95.0% CI = .73-.82; p < .05). In addition, higher concern about HIV/AIDS decreased the likelihood of not having been tested for HIV (OR = .87; 95.0% CI = .83-.92; p < .05). In fact, the higher participants concern about STIs was, the lower their likelihood of not having been tested for HIV was (OR = .87; 95.0% CI = .83-.91; p < .05). It is necessary to promote HIV testing in the general population as well as to consider their socio-demographic and psychological characteristics.

Analysis of resilience and sexual behavior in persons with HIV infection.

The main objective of this study was to evaluate ex post facto resilience in persons with HIV infection and its relationship to socio-demographic and sexual behavior variables. Participants included 159 persons with HIV infection, of both sexes, aged between 19 and 55 years. Fifty-one percent of patients were infected through homosexual means. Sixty-seven percent were in the asymptomatic phase of infection. Assessment instruments used were the following: a questionnaire on socio-demographic data and sexual behavior and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale. The evaluation was individual, voluntary, and anonymous. The results showed that 49.05% of patients had average resilience, 27.68% had high resilience, and 23.37% had low resilience. They found that heterosexual patients infected with HIV, diagnosed between 1985 and 1990 (23 and 28 years of diagnosis) and those who had disclosed their HIV status to more than 30 people, had greater resilience than homosexual patients, diagnosed between 1996 and 2000 (13 and 17 years of diagnosis) and those who had disclosed their HIV status to 1-5 people. Finally, resilience was not a predictor of sexual risk factor. It is suggested that health interventions take into account the resilience and psychological variables that may be beneficial to improve coping with the disease.

[Influence of sociodemographic variables on coping styles, social stress, and sexual sensation seeking in adolescents]. / Influencia de variables sociodemográficas sobre los estilos de afrontamiento, el estrés social y la búsqueda de sensaciones sexuales en adolescentes.

The aim of this study is to analyze the influence of gender, age, and type of high school (public/private) on coping styles solve the problem coping style, reference to others coping style and non-productive coping, social stress, and sexual sensation seeking in adolescents. A total of 4.456 adolescents participated. The following measures were used: Adolescent Coping Scale, Sexual Sensation Seeking Scale, and the Social Stress subscale of the Behavior Assessment System for Children. This is a cross-sectional study that used a stratified random sampling considering Spanish regions and type of high school (public/private) to select participants. The sample is representative of the national level at a 95.5% confidence interval. Results showed that males had higher scores in sexual sensation seeking and social stress compared to females. Female adolescents scored higher in reference to others coping style and non-productive coping. Compared to adolescents of public high schools, adolescents who attended to private high schools scored higher in solve the problem coping style and reference to others coping style. Associations among sexual sensation seeking, coping styles, social stress, and health risk behaviors in adolescents are discussed.

[Ranking 2008 of research productivity in Spanish public universities]. / Ranking de 2008 en productividad en investigación de las universidades públicas españolas.

The aim of this study is to analyze research scientific productivity of Spanish public universities by means of using criteria related to research assessment in Spain. Firstly, a study to establish the weight of the indicators was developed. A representative sample of 1,341 university teachers participated in this study. Of them, 68% are senior lecturers and 32% are professors. A stratified random sampling procedure within each area of knowledge was used. The sample is representative with a 97% confidence interval. Secondly, the scientific productivity according to the size of university in each indicator was analyzed. Finally, the scientific productivity according to size of university and weight of each indicator was weighted. Results of the survey make possible to get a specific ranking in each criterion: Doctoral dissertations, Research projects+development, Grants for training university teachers, Articles included in JCR, Research periods and Doctorate programs with Quality Mention, as well as a global ranking. Results allow analyzing strengths and weakness of each university according each criterion.