SCALE OF RISK BEHAVIORS, ASSOCIATED WITH STI / HIV- AIDS, FOR YOUNG CHILEANS

STIs and HIV/AIDS are major public health problems. Both pathologies share risk from sexual behaviours, mainly inappropriate use of condoms, multiplicity of sexual partners and sex under the influence of alcohol and drugs, as main vectors. Despite the importance of evaluating these behaviours for preventive purposes in the Hispanic-American context, there are no tools with sufficient evidence of reliability and validity for this purpose. The present study reports the development of a free access instrument for this purpose, according to current psychometric standards. A total of 866 young people living in the cities of Arica and Iquique (northern Chile) were selected on time-space and social network sampling. The final instrument consists of 16 items, distributed in four dimensions: sexual activity with multiple partners; inadequate and/or insufficient use of protective barriers; sexual activity under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs; and perceived knowledge of the partner's sexual history. The instrument offers adequate evidence of reliability (omega > .8) and validity based on the internal structure of the test (RMSEA < .06; CFI > .95; TLI > .95). In addition, we offer differentiated scales by sex, discuss the possible uses of the instrument and suggest new courses of research. (C) 2019 Published by Future Academy www.FutureAcademy.org.UK