ABSTRACT
170 trade school students (main inquiry 142) between 18 and 21 in eight cantons were questioned via group discussions and questionnaire on their attitude to the STOP AIDS campaign, to the messages put across by the campaign and to the use of condoms. About half the trade school students recognise the personal appeal. 77% consider the recommended protection by using condoms personally acceptable and correct. However, the inquiry disclosed that this is only a relative acceptance. In practice, a considerable minority is developing individual behaviour concepts with a view to circumventing the recommended condom protection whenever possible. There is a lack of insight into the advantages of using condoms as standard practice in risk situations as a manifestation of the solidarity of all concerned to prevent AIDS from spreading further. The analysis of the results considers, inter alia, to what extent partner loyalty, confidence and abstinence are integrated in these behavioural concepts and attempts to assess their value with a view to reliable AIDS prevention. Prejudice against the condom and a gap in the STOP AIDS campaign reasoning are considered as possible grounds for the resistance to the recommended condom protection.