319004
College students' support for HPV vaccination mandates: Do political or religious affiliations make a difference?
Methods. Data were analyzed from 804 college students aged 18 to 26 using an internet-delivered questionnaire. Two multinomial logistic regressions were performed using backward selection. One model compared HPV-related knowledge, vaccination-related perceptions, vaccination mandate support, religious affiliation, and personal characteristics across political affiliation. Another multinomial logistic model assessed the degree to which these factors and political affiliation were associated with participants’ support for HPV vaccination mandates.
Results. Religious affiliation was associated with particular political affiliations. Relative to those self-identifying as Republican, those who were non-white (P<0.01), older (P<0.05), and support HPV vaccination mandates (P<0.05) were more likely to be Democrats or Libertarians. Participants self-identifying as Atheist (P=0.029), had been diagnosed with HPV (P=0.021), and had parents supporting HPV vaccination mandates (P<0.001) were more likely to support HPV vaccination mandates. Those who believed mandates violate personal individual freedoms (P<0.001) and parental rights (P=0.007) were less likely to support HPV vaccination mandates.
Conclusion. Findings indicate certain affiliations are more likely to support HPV vaccination mandates and can inform policy makers about strategies to offset mandate opposition among young voters. Possible interventions may provide education to groups more likely to oppose HPV vaccine mandates to protect school-aged youth from HPV.
Learning Areas:
Public health or related educationPublic health or related nursing
Learning Objectives:
Identify 3 characteristics of college students who support HPV vaccination mandates for school-aged youth.
Describe 3 factors associated with HPV vaccination mandate support
Discuss the role self-identified political and religious affiliations in terms of vaccination mandate support
Keyword(s): Public Health Research, STDs/STI
Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been the principal investigator on multiple studies focusing on the HPV vaccine uptake in adolescents and young adults. My research agenda includes developing feasible, theory-based strategies for encouraging HPV vaccine uptake and completion in adolescents and young adults.
Any relevant financial relationships? No
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.