Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Pediatrics and Parenting
Date Submitted: Mar 27, 2022
Date Accepted: Jul 25, 2022
Social Media Perceptions and Internet Verification Skills Associated with HPV Vaccine Decision-Making among Parents of Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Survey
ABSTRACT
Background:
HPV vaccination is recommended for adolescents ages 11-12 years old in the United States. One factor that may contribute to low national HPV vaccine uptake is parental exposure to misinformation on social media.
Objective:
To examine the association between parents’ perceptions of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine information on social media and Internet verification strategies used with HPV vaccine decision-making stage for their adolescents.
Methods:
Parents of 9-17 year olds were recruited for a cross-sectional survey in North Texas (n=1,192) and classified into three groups: adolescent vaccinated, unvaccinated and did not want vaccine, and unvaccinated and wanted vaccine. Multinomial logistic regression models were estimated to identify factors associated with HPV vaccination decision-making stage with vaccinated adolescents as the referent group.
Results:
Forty-five percent of respondents had HPV-vaccinated children, 39% had an unvaccinated child and did not want the vaccine, and 16% had an unvaccinated child and wanted the vaccine. Respondents were less likely to be “undecided/not wanting the vaccine” if they agreed HPV information on social media is credible, disagreed that social media makes me question the HPV vaccine, or had a higher internet verification score.
Conclusions:
Interventions that promote online health literacy skills are needed so parents can protect their families from misinformation and make informed healthcare decisions. Clinical Trial: N/A
Citation
Per the author's request the PDF is not available.
Copyright
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