School of Health and Kinesiology, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Omaha, NE, USA.
Division of Community Health Sciences, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
J Commun Healthc. 2023 Jul;16(2):215-224. doi: 10.1080/17538068.2023.2171613. Epub 2023 Jan 31.
The uptake of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines has been controversial among religious parents due to beliefs that their children are expected to practice sexual purity and so do not need protection from a sex-related infection. Also, if at all they get infected in the future, God can protect them from sickness without a vaccine. Yet, most HPV vaccination messages are secular, lacking spiritual themes. This study compared the effectiveness of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Vaccine Information Statement (VIS) on HPV with our intervention message- a scripture-embedded HPV vaccination message (using a randomized controlled trial design) on vaccination intention.
The study was conducted online. Participants were 342 Christian parents (from any denomination) of unvaccinated adolescents aged 11-17 years. The intervention message used the Cognitive Metaphor Theory to map the constructs of the Biblical story of to HPV vaccination. We framed Noah as the parents, the flood as HPV, and the ark as the vaccination. Multiple linear regression was used to analyze the changes in vaccination intention before and after the intervention.
Our findings showed that parents who received the scripture-embedded message reported a higher intention to vaccinate their children than those who received the CDC VIS (β= 0.31, 95% confidence interval [95%CI] = 0.11-0.52; p=0.003).
Our findings support the need for equitable messaging regarding HPV vaccination. Faith-based messaging interventions that seek to increase HPV vaccination should be framed to address religious anti-vaccination beliefs.
由于宗教父母认为他们的孩子应该保持性行为的纯洁，因此不需要预防与性行为相关的感染，因此 HPV 疫苗的接种率一直存在争议。此外，如果他们将来真的感染了，上帝可以在没有疫苗的情况下保护他们免受疾病的侵害。然而，大多数 HPV 疫苗接种信息都是世俗的，缺乏精神主题。本研究比较了疾病控制与预防中心（CDC）的 HPV 疫苗信息声明（VIS）与我们的干预信息-嵌入经文的 HPV 疫苗接种信息（使用随机对照试验设计）对疫苗接种意向的有效性。
该研究是在线进行的。参与者为 342 名未接种过 HPV 疫苗的青少年（11-17 岁）的基督教父母（来自任何教派）。干预信息使用认知隐喻理论将圣经故事中的人物映射到 HPV 疫苗接种中。我们将诺亚视为父母，洪水视为 HPV，方舟视为疫苗。使用多元线性回归分析干预前后疫苗接种意向的变化。
我们的研究结果表明，接受经文嵌入信息的父母比接受 CDC VIS 的父母更有意愿为孩子接种疫苗（β=0.31，95%置信区间[95%CI]=0.11-0.52；p=0.003）。
我们的研究结果支持 HPV 疫苗接种需要公平的信息传递。旨在增加 HPV 疫苗接种率的基于信仰的信息干预措施应该针对解决宗教反疫苗接种信念。
