The three chapters of this dissertation collectively assess how HIV/AIDS knowledge, attitudes are behaviors
are changing in Malawi. The first chapter assesses how married individuals use knowledge of HIV status to
make behavioral changes to reduce HIV risk or make decisions about divorce. Instrumental variable models
controlling for selection into HIV testing are estimated using data from the Malawi Longitudinal Study of
Families and Health (MLSFH). Results indicate that knowledge of HIV status does not affect chances of
divorce but does reduce the number of reported sexual partners among HIV-positive respondents, and
increases reported condom use with spouses for both HIV-negative and HIV-positive respondents. The goals
of the second and third chapters are to dig beneath behavior itself and look at how potential behavioral
changes are motivated, as well as how basic HIV knowledge has changed. Chapter 2 examines ways that HIV
prevention efforts may have changed beliefs and attitudes towards HIV risk and HIV prevention, in particular
attitudes towards a woman's right to protect against HIV risk. Using MLSFH data, I compare participants and
non-participants in a program providing extensive HIV counseling and testing. Results suggest that
participants are more likely to believe that women have the right to take steps to protect themselves from HIV
risk, are less likely to be extremely worried about HIV infection, and are more likely to think condom use is an
acceptable means of protection against HIV. Chapter 3 explores how individuals update knowledge of HIV/
AIDS transmission and prevention over time in Malawi. HIV knowledge uptake could potentially be different
according to an individual's age, the time frame in which an individual was born, or could be changing
predominately over time for all individuals (age, period or cohort). Using Demographic and Health Surveys
Data for Malawi in cross-classified random effect age-period-cohort models, I find that period effects
dominate over cohort or age effects, meaning that knowledge of effective HIV prevention tactics has increased
most strongly over time, net of age and birth cohort effects.