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ERIC Number: EJ1019976
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013-Oct
Pages: 8
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1090-1981
EISSN: N/A
The Role of Attitudes about Vaccine Safety, Efficacy, and Value in Explaining Parents' Reported Vaccination Behavior
LaVail, Katherine Hart; Kennedy, Allison Michelle
Health Education & Behavior, v40 n5 p544-551 Oct 2013
Objectives: To explain vaccine confidence as it related to parents' decisions to vaccinate their children with recommended vaccines, and to develop a confidence measure to efficiently and effectively predict parents' self-reported vaccine behaviors. Method: A sample of parents with at least one child younger than 6 years ("n" = 376) was analyzed using data from the HealthStyles 2010 survey. Questions were grouped into block variables to create three confidence constructs: value, safety, and efficacy. Regression equations controlling for demographic characteristics were used to identify the confidence construct(s) that best predicted parents' self-reported vaccination decisions (accept all, some, or none of the recommended childhood vaccines). Results: Among the three constructs evaluated, confidence in the value of vaccines, that is the belief that vaccines are important and vaccinating one's children is the right thing to do, was the best predictor of parents' vaccine decisions, "F"(2, 351) = 119.199, "p" < 0.001. When combined into a block variable for analysis, two survey items measuring confidence in the value of vaccines accounted for 40% of the variance in parents' self-reported vaccine decisions. Confidence in the safety or efficacy of vaccines failed to account for additional significant variance in parent-reported vaccination behavior. Conclusions: Confidence in the value of vaccines is a helpful predictor of parent-reported vaccination behavior. Attitudinal constructs of confidence in the safety and efficacy of vaccines failed to account for additional significant variance in parents' vaccination behaviors. Future research should assess the role of vaccine knowledge and tangible barriers, such as access and cost, to further explain parents' vaccination behaviors.
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A