The role of trust in health information from medical authorities in accepting the HPV vaccine among African American parents

Abstract

This research examines how and why trust in health information from medical authorities (i.e., doctors or health care professionals and government health agencies) predicts acceptance of the HPV vaccine for one’s child among African American parents. A survey of African American parents recruited from community venues revealed that low trust in health information from government health agencies was associated with less favorable attitudes and intentions toward vaccinating their child against HPV. Trust in health information from a doctor or health care professional did not predict vaccine acceptance. Mediation analyses indicated that the relationship between trust in health information from government health agencies and vaccine acceptance was partially mediated by perceived vaccine efficacy. Implications of the findings on communicating to the African American community about the HPV vaccine are discussed.