Parents’ Behaviors and Experiences Associated with Four Vaccination Behavior Groups for Childhood Vaccine Hesitancy

Abstract

Objectives: Increasing vaccine hesitancy and decreasing acceptance of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) recommended schedule for childhood vaccines represent a crucial public health issue. The present study directly compares vaccine acceptance behavior across four different groups: those who are fully accepting of the CDC-recommended schedule, those who are accepting but on a delayed schedule, those who only partially vaccinate, and those who do not vaccinate at all. Methods: A total of 779 adults residing in the United States with at least one child under the age of 18 years participated in an online survey. Results: Logistic and Ordinary Least Squares regression analyses revealed clear differences between the vaccination behavior groups on a variety of demographic, psychographic, and behavioral metrics. Results suggest financial and insurance-related barriers still hinder full vaccination, and there are differences by race, ethnicity, and educational attainment. Sources of information about vaccines also differed by vaccination behavior group, with those who never vaccinate more likely to rely on friends and family for information. Finally, those whose child experienced what the parent interpreted as an adverse reaction to a previous vaccine, even if that reaction was within the bounds of “normal”, were more likely to report they delay or partially vaccinate. Conclusions for practice: These results have implications for public health policy and intervention campaigns, in particular that two-step flow campaigns and increased knowledge of normal vaccine side effects may ameliorate some vaccine hesitancy.