Results from an Empirical Study of School Principals' Decisions About Disclosure of HIV Status

Abstract

ABSTRACT Elementary school principals' decisions about disclosure of school age children's confidential medical information was empirically studied. Participants included a stratified sample of 339 elementary school principals from the seven largest school districts in Florida. Each participant received one of six vignettes describing a student with HIV, Hepatitis C, or Leukemia who was either symptomatic or asymptomatic. After reading the vignette, participants completed a 10-item Disclosure scale and a 16-itemHIV Knowledge scale. Data were analyzed using a 3 × 2 factorial MANOVA. Scores on the disclosure scale varied significantly based on diagnosis and the presence of symptomatology. Knowledge about HIV was relatively high among participants, and there were no significant correlations between level of knowledge and decisions about disclosure.