The Nurses' Attitudes About AIDS Scale (NAAS): development and psychometric analysis.

This article describes the development and psychometric evaluation of the Nurses' Attitudes About AIDS Scale (NAAS). Based on a review of the literature on attitude theory and measurement and on HIV/AIDS, 273 items were developed for inclusion in the scale. Content validity was established by a panel of ten nurses in current practice, six experts in AIDS education and adult health nursing, and one expert in attitude and scaling theory and measurement. On this basis, 60 items were selected and pilot tested for face validity on 33 practicing nurses. Responses from a purposive sample of 731 working RNs were evaluated. A factor analysis yielded a single homosexuality factor explaining 53% of the variance in the 2 1 -item measure. This subscale was labeled attitudes about people with AIDS. Alpha reliability coefficient was .96. Two subscales were identified in the AIDS dimension: attitudes about nursing care concerns (12 items; alpha = .83) and attitudes about social-professional concerns (8 items; alpha = .72). These subscales explained 38.5% of the variance. Additional evidence of construct validity as well as predictive validity were established.