The effects of instructor gender on the knowledge, feelings, behavior and self-efficacy related to AIDS prevention education of African-American women.

A quasi-experimental design was used to test the effects of instructor gender on knowledge, feelings, behavior and self-efficacy related to AIDS prevention education of 44 African-American women (N = 44) when such instruction was provided by male instructors as compared to their female counterparts. The groups consisting of 11 members each (n = 11) were randomly assigned to one of four instructors of which two were males and two were females (n = 2 males and n = 2 females). A pre- and post-test questionnaire designed specifically for use with African-American women was administered to determine if there was a significant difference in measured learning outcomes when AIDS education was provided by instructors based on gender to these African-American women enrolled in the study. The women who had male instructors scored significantly higher on the behavior post-test as compared to those who had female instructors. No significant differences were found for the effect of male and female instructors on the women's feelings and knowledge scores. In addition, instructor gender did not effect change in self-efficacy. AIDS prevention education significantly increased self-efficacy scores regardless of instructor gender.