Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Law, Teesside University.
Faculty of Health Sciences and Wellbeing, University of Sunderland.
Health Psychol. 2023 Aug;42(8):577-583. doi: 10.1037/hea0001231. Epub 2022 Aug 18.
While coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine uptake has been encouraging in the United Kingdom, younger adults are more likely to be hesitant toward the vaccine. Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) has been applied to influenza vaccine acceptance, but there is a lack of research applying models of health behavior, such as PMT, to COVID-19 vaccine acceptance in younger adults. Additionally, prior research has suggested that coronavirus conspiracy beliefs may play a role in this acceptance. The present study assessed the association between COVID-19 vaccination intention in younger adults and PMT, including coronavirus conspiracy beliefs as specific threat beliefs, during the later stages of the vaccination program, with a correlational design using an online survey.
The survey was completed by 301 individuals (177 vaccinated, 124 unvaccinated) aged 18-34 (67 males, 234 females). Respondents' = 27.13 ( = 4.68). A multiple linear regression was performed on unvaccinated individuals' responses.
The model showed that four constructs from PMT-severity, self-efficacy, maladaptive response reward, and threat beliefs in the form of coronavirus conspiracy beliefs-were associated with intention to get vaccinated for COVID-19. An independent test established that unvaccinated individuals had lower levels of education than vaccinated ones.
Although further research is needed, interventions and campaigns addressing COVID-19 vaccine acceptance may need to use strategies increasing young adults' perceived severity of COVID-19 and their perceived ability to get vaccinated, while decreasing perceived reward of not getting vaccinated. Additionally, coronavirus conspiracy beliefs should be addressed in vaccine-hesitant individuals. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).
虽然 2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）疫苗的接种在美国已得到广泛推广，但年轻人对接种疫苗的态度仍较为犹豫。保护动机理论（PMT）已被应用于流感疫苗的接受度研究，但将 PMT 等健康行为模型应用于年轻人对 COVID-19 疫苗的接受度研究还相对较少。此外，先前的研究表明，对冠状病毒阴谋论的信念可能在这一接受过程中发挥作用。本研究采用在线调查的相关设计，评估了 PMT （包括冠状病毒阴谋论信念作为特定威胁信念）与年轻成年人 COVID-19 疫苗接种意向之间的关联，研究在疫苗接种计划的后期阶段进行。
该调查由 301 名年龄在 18-34 岁的个体（177 名已接种疫苗，124 名未接种疫苗）完成（67 名男性，234 名女性）。受访者的 = 27.13（ = 4.68）。对未接种疫苗个体的回答进行了多元线性回归分析。
该模型显示，PMT 的四个结构-严重性、自我效能、适应不良反应奖励和冠状病毒阴谋论信念形式的威胁信念-与接种 COVID-19 疫苗的意愿有关。一项独立 t 检验确定，未接种疫苗的个体受教育程度低于接种疫苗的个体。
尽管需要进一步的研究，但针对 COVID-19 疫苗接种接受度的干预措施和宣传活动可能需要采用增加年轻人对 COVID-19 严重程度和接种疫苗能力的认知，同时减少对未接种疫苗的奖励感知的策略。此外，应在对疫苗持犹豫态度的个体中解决冠状病毒阴谋论信念问题。（心理学信息库记录（c）2023 年 APA，保留所有权利）。
