Dataset Information

Parental Decision Making Regarding COVID-19 Vaccines for Children under Age 5: Does Decision Self-Efficacy Play a Role?

ABSTRACT:

Background

COVID-19 vaccines are now available under Emergency Use Authorization for children ages 6 months to 5 years. We examined parents' intentions to vaccinate their children under the age of 5 years and assessed whether their confidence in making an informed decision about vaccination (decision self-efficacy) was associated with these intentions.

Method

We conducted a cross-sectional online survey of U.S. parents between 23 March and 5 April 2022. We examined associations between parental intention to vaccinate their young children (ResultsOf the 591 parents in this sample, 49% indicated that they intended to vaccinate their child(ren), 29% reported that they would not, and 21% were undecided. In bivariate analyses, race/ethnicity, health insurance, flu vaccination in the past 12 months, and parental COVID-19 vaccination status were significantly related to parental intention to vaccinate their child(ren). In the multivariable analyses, which controlled for these factors, parents who intended to vaccinate their child(ren) had greater confidence in their ability to make informed decisions about COVID-19 vaccinations compared to those who were unsure about vaccination. Each one standard deviation in the Decision Self-Efficacy score was associated with a 39% increase in intention to vaccinate one's child versus being unsure about vaccination (AOR 1.39, 95% CI 1.09, 1.77).

Conclusions

Parents who are unsure about vaccinating their children against COVID-19 may benefit from interventions designed to increase their ability to obtain, understand, and utilize information to make informed decisions.

SUBMITTER: Allen JD

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9959902 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Parental Decision Making Regarding COVID-19 Vaccines for Children under Age 5: Does Decision Self-Efficacy Play a Role?

Allen Jennifer D JD Matsunaga Masako M Lim Eunjung E Zimet Gregory D GD Nguyen Kimberly H KH Fontenot Holly B HB

Vaccines 20230218 2

<h4>Background</h4>COVID-19 vaccines are now available under Emergency Use Authorization for children ages 6 months to 5 years. We examined parents' intentions to vaccinate their children under the age of 5 years and assessed whether their confidence in making an informed decision about vaccination (decision self-efficacy) was associated with these intentions.<h4>Method</h4>We conducted a cross-sectional online survey of U.S. parents between 23 March and 5 April 2022. We examined associations be ...[more]

PMID: 36851355

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Project description:A growing number of parents delay vaccinations or are deciding not to vaccinate their children altogether. This increases the risk of contracting vaccine-preventable diseases and disrupting herd immunity, and also impairs the trust in the capacities of health care systems to protect people. Vaccine hesitancy is related to a range of both psychological and demographic determinants, such as attitudes toward vaccinations, social norms, and trust in science. Our aim is to understand those determinants in parents, because they are a special group in this issue-they act as proxy decision makers for their children, who are unable to decide for themselves. The fact that deciding to vaccinate is a socially forced choice that concerns a child's health makes vaccine-related decisions highly important and involving for parents. This high involvement might lead to parents overemphasizing the potential side effects that they know to be vaccine-related, and by amplifying those, parents are more focused on the potential outcomes of vaccine-related decisions, which can yield specific pattern of the outcome bias. We propose two related studies to investigate factors which promote vaccine hesitancy, protective factors that determine parental vaccination decisions, and outcome bias in parental vaccination intentions. We will explore demographic and psychological factors, and test parental involvement related to vaccine hesitancy using an online battery in a correlation panel design study. The second study is an experimental study, in which we will investigate the moderating role of parents' high involvement in the specific domain of vaccination decision making. We expect that higher involvement among parents, compared to non-parents, will shape the pattern of the proneness to outcome bias. The studies will be conducted across eight countries in Europe and Asia (Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, and the United Kingdom), rendering findings that will aid with understanding the underlying mechanisms of vaccine hesitancy and paving the way for developing interventions custom-made for parents.

Dataset Information

Parental Decision Making Regarding COVID-19 Vaccines for Children under Age 5: Does Decision Self-Efficacy Play a Role?

Background

Method

Conclusions

Publications

Parental Decision Making Regarding COVID-19 Vaccines for Children under Age 5: Does Decision Self-Efficacy Play a Role?

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