Unvaccinated adolescents’ COVID-19 vaccine intentions: Implications for public health messaging

Details

• Alternative Title:
  J Adolesc Health
• Personal Author:
  Ryan, Grace W. ; Askelson, Natoshia M. ; Woodworth, Kate R. ; Lindley, Megan C. ; Gedlinske, Amber ; Parker, Andrew M. ; Gidengil, Courtney A. ; Petersen, Christine A. ; Scherer, Aaron M.
• Description:
  Purpose:
  
  COVID-19 vaccine uptake remains low for U.S. adolescents and contributes to excess morbidity and mortality. Most research has assessed parental intention to vaccinate their children. We explored differences between vaccine-acceptant and vaccine-hesitant unvaccinated U.S. adolescents using national survey data.
  
  Methods:
  
  A nonprobability, quota-based sample of adolescents, 13-17 years, was recruited through an online survey panel in April 2021. 1,927 adolescents were screened for participation and the final sample included 985 responses. We assessed responses from unvaccinated adolescents (n=831). Our primary measure was COVID-19 vaccination intent (“vaccine-acceptant” defined as “definitely will” get a COVID-19 vaccine and any other response classified as “vaccine-hesitant”), secondary measures included reasons for intending or not intending to get vaccinated and trusted sources of COVID-19 vaccine information. We calculated descriptive statistics and chi-square tests to explore differences between vaccine-acceptant and vaccine-hesitant adolescents.
  
  Results:
  
  Most (n=831;70.9%) adolescents were hesitant, with more hesitancy observed among adolescents with low levels of concern about COVID-19 and high levels of concern about side effects of COVID-19 vaccination. Among vaccine-hesitant adolescents, reasons for not intending to get vaccinated included waiting for safety data and having parents who would make the vaccination decision. Vaccine-hesitant adolescents had a lower number of trusted information sources than vaccine-acceptant adolescents.
  
  Discussion:
  
  Differences identified between vaccine-acceptant and hesitant adolescents can inform message content and dissemination. Messages should include accurate, age-appropriate information about side effects and risks of COVID-19 infection. Prioritizing dissemination of these messages through family members, state and local government officials and healthcare providers may be most effective.
  
  Implications and Contribution:
  
  COVID-19 vaccine uptake among adolescents remains challenging. Most existing research focuses on parental intentions for their children, however adolescents’ intentions about COVID-19 vaccination are understudied. This study identified important differences between COVID-19 vaccine-accepting and vaccine-hesitant adolescents, which can inform communication with hesitant adolescents in terms of message content and dissemination channels.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Adolescent Child COVID-19 COVID-19 Vaccines Family Humans Intention Parents Public Health Vaccination
• Keywords:
  COVID-19 Vaccination Survey Research Vaccine Communication Vaccine Intentions
• Source:
  J Adolesc Health. 73(4):679-685
• Pubmed ID:
  37395695
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC10529916
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  K01 AG065440/AG/NIA NIH HHSUnited States/ ; T32 CA172009/CA/NCI NIH HHSUnited States/ ; U01 IP001144/IP/NCIRD CDC HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  73
• Issue:
  4
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:d2782c28e2207ed56df2a9bf386264c81a9a71d89f40259a4fe610d6ea703857ff4df54112c045b4265de07d54e9745f1c17ed825ef10215661d2c4cbc345dac
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/133521/cdc_133521_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 362.31 KB ]