Social Determinants of HPV Vaccination Intentions Among Black Mothers with Young Daughters
Abstract
High-risk HPV infections are responsible for a large percentage of cancers and related mortality among women. Compared to other-race counterparts, Black women experience greater risk of persistent high-risk infection, and consequently, greater risk of HPV-related outcomes including genital warts and the highest incidence rate of vaginal cancer and mortality rate of cervical cancer. Vaccination uptake among Black adolescent girls between 9 to 17 years old remains suboptimal, however. Hesitancy to accept the HPV vaccine among Black parents magnifies HPV disparities facing Black girls throughout their development. Guided by the health belief model and the theory of planned behavior, the current study investigated Black mothers’ intentions to vaccinate their daughter against HPV, integrating across these two frameworks to identify key psychological and social determinants of HPV vaccine intentions. A total of 402 Black mothers of young daughters ages 9 to 15 completed an online survey which assessed HPV beliefs and attitudes across four domains: Mother’s HPV Perceptions (knowledge, susceptibility, severity), Mother’s Vaccine Attitudes (general vaccine attitudes, perceived HPV vaccine benefits, safety concerns, and mother’s self-efficacy to request the vaccine), Cues to Action (community norms, peer norms, and doctor recommendation), and Barriers to HPV Vaccination (inaccessibility, cultural medical mistrust, and sexual risk and stigma). This study explored (1) the extent to which these determinants were associated with HPV vaccine intentions among Black mothers, and (2) the extent to which these four domains overall and uniquely explained variance in HPV vaccine intentions among Black mothers. Approximately half of participants intended to vaccinate their daughter. All determinants except HPV knowledge were each significantly associated with HPV vaccine intentions in bivariate analyses. The four domains of determinants contributed 40% of the total 62% of variance in HPV vaccine intentions explained by the multivariate model. Factors of mother’s vaccine attitudes and cues to action emerged as central determinants of HPV vaccine intentions among this population. These findings suggest that public health campaigns which simply provide information or knowledge about HPV infection and vaccination are insufficient. Population-tailored public health messaging aimed at increasing HPV vaccine acceptance among Black mothers must consider their unique concerns and needs.
Subject Area
Developmental psychology|Public health|Behavioral Sciences
Recommended Citation
Gray, Aaliyah Leora, "Social Determinants of HPV Vaccination Intentions Among Black Mothers with Young Daughters" (2022). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI13900544.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI13900544
