TY - JOUR AB - Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to show that HIV/AIDS‐related stigma has persisted world‐wide for decades. However, studies on the linkage between stigmatizing attitudes towards people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) and misconceptions about HIV transmission routes in the general population, especially among youth in China, are sparse – a gap this study is intended to fill.Design/methodology/approach– Cross‐sectional data from 1,839 students from 19 colleges were collected by trained interviewers using a structured questionnaire in Jiangsu province of China.Findings– This study reveals that there is a high proportion of college students having both stigmatizing attitudes toward PLWHA and misconceptions about HIV/AIDS transmission routes. Multilevel logistic regression analysis results show that having stigmatizing attitudes towards PLWHA is positively associated with having misconceptions about HIV transmission routes. Participants with high misconception scores were more likely to possess stigmatizing attitudes towards PLWHA.Originality/value– To reduce stigmatizing attitudes towards PLWHA, HIV/AIDS education should be strengthened among the general population, especially among youth. VL - 108 IS - 2 SN - 0965-4283 DO - 10.1108/09654280810855586 UR - https://doi.org/10.1108/09654280810855586 AU - Zhang Liying AU - Li Xiaoming AU - Mao Rong AU - Stanton Bonita AU - Zhao Qun AU - Wang Bo AU - Mathur Ambika PY - 2008 Y1 - 2008/01/01 TI - Stigmatizing attitudes towards people living with HIV/AIDS among college students in China: Implications for HIV/AIDS education and prevention T2 - Health Education PB - Emerald Group Publishing Limited SP - 130 EP - 144 Y2 - 2024/04/18 ER -