9 - Parents of Adolescents Perspectives on Vaccine Information Sources and Vaccine Confidence

Poster Number: 9
Publication Number: 9.2

Judy Klein, Unity Consortium, Newton, PA, United States; Tamera Coyne-Beasley, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States; Alexandra Garcia, Unity Consortium, New York, NY, United States

Background: Throughout the Pandemic, parents broadened their sources for vaccine information including increased information through their social media platforms. Exposure to various perspectives across digital platforms is difficult to ignore, irrespective of scientific accuracy. Concurrently, adolescent and young adult (AYA) vaccine doses plummeted and have just started to return to pre-pandemic levels.


Objective:

To improve our understanding of the impact of vaccine information sourcing across digital/social media platforms on parents beliefs and behaviors, Unity conducted two independent market research studies analyzing the influence of information sources on parental decisions to vaccinate their AYAs.

Design/Methods:

Unity conducted multiwave, online survey research on preventive health and immunizations with a U.S. representative group of parents of adolescents (n=500/wave), oversampling disproportionately impacted groups and considering income, household location and race/ethnicity. Surveys were fielded in August 2020, February and June 2021. The survey instrument was repeated across waves and updated in waves 2 and 3 with COVID-19 vaccine availability.

In November/December 2021, Unity delved deeper into the relationship between vaccine confidence and parent information sourcing and social media use with multiphase, mixed methods research. Unity conducted asynchronous online board group discussions with parents (n=60) of AYAs and in-depth discussions with parent triads (n=18) stratified by vaccine beliefs.

Results:

Vaccine safety concerns continue to rise, with social media playing a significant role in molding vaccine perceptions and behavior (Table 1). There is confusion about trusted sources and doubt in expert opinions, even amongst previously vaccine positive parents (Table 2) though parents continue to seek information from their healthcare providers (Table 3).

Conclusion(s):

Unity’s research uniquely assessed sources and their influence on parents’ decisions to vaccinate their AYAs. COVID-19 heightened skepticism on vaccine information, with many sources fueling safety concerns. HCPs remained trusted messengers, whereas, government organizations declined in credibility. The high levels of contradictory information, the need to check multiple sources, and knowledge that their decisions impact their adolescent’s future all serve to increase parental stress. HCPs should remain a trusted and influential source for vaccine information.