Department of Psychology, Heriot-Watt University, Riccarton Campus, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
PLoS One. 2024 Jul 30;19(7):e0300771. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0300771. eCollection 2024.
The global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the critical importance of widespread vaccination to mitigate the impact of the virus on public health. The current study aimed to investigate which social influences might be most important for predicting attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination and vaccine uptake among young students in the UK. We focused on the cultural evolution and social transmission aspects, i.e., parent-to-child versus peer-to-peer, of attitudes and vaccine uptake during the COVID-19 pandemic. A sample of 192 UK students (aged 18 to 35 years old) filled in an online survey including measures for attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination and vaccine uptake and/or intention, age, and gender. Participants were also asked about their mother's, father's, and best friend's attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination and vaccine uptake. Finally, they provided a subjective measure of the quality relationship with their parents. Overall, our results suggest that both parents and very close friends are important agents in understanding the students' attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination and vaccine uptake. More specifically, our findings suggest the mother's vaccine uptake as the most salient predictor of students' attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination and vaccine uptake, particularly when the students report having a positive relationship with their parents. In cases where students' experience negative relationship with their parents, the best friend's vaccine uptake may supersede the mother's influence. Despite these nuances, a general trend emerges from our data suggesting that vaccine uptake could be primarily guided by vertical transmission (i.e., parent to child). Our results have the potential to influence public health strategies, communication campaigns, and targeted interventions to enhance vaccination uptake. Identifying key social predictors can enable policymakers and health authorities to tailor vaccination promotion efforts towards mothers' and peers' vaccine uptake to increase overall positive attitudes and vaccine uptake among young people.
全球抗击 COVID-19 大流行突显了广泛接种疫苗对于减轻该病毒对公共卫生影响的至关重要性。本研究旨在探究哪些社会影响因素对于预测英国年轻学生对 COVID-19 疫苗接种的态度和疫苗接种率最为重要。我们关注的是态度和疫苗接种在 COVID-19 大流行期间的文化演变和社会传播方面，即父母对子女的影响与同龄人对同龄人的影响。我们对 192 名英国学生（年龄在 18 至 35 岁之间）进行了在线调查，调查内容包括对 COVID-19 疫苗接种的态度和疫苗接种率以及/或接种意愿、年龄和性别等方面的测量。参与者还被问及他们母亲、父亲和最好朋友对 COVID-19 疫苗接种和疫苗接种率的态度。最后，他们提供了对与父母关系质量的主观测量。总的来说，我们的研究结果表明，父母和非常亲密的朋友都是理解学生对 COVID-19 疫苗接种和疫苗接种率态度的重要因素。更具体地说，我们的研究结果表明，母亲的疫苗接种率是学生对 COVID-19 疫苗接种和疫苗接种率态度的最重要预测因素，特别是当学生报告与父母关系积极时。在学生与父母关系消极的情况下，最好朋友的疫苗接种率可能会超过母亲的影响。尽管存在这些细微差别，但我们的数据中出现了一个普遍趋势，即疫苗接种率可能主要受到垂直传播（即父母对子女）的影响。我们的研究结果有可能影响公共卫生策略、沟通运动和有针对性的干预措施，以提高疫苗接种率。确定关键的社会预测因素可以使政策制定者和卫生当局能够针对母亲和同龄人的疫苗接种率来调整疫苗接种推广工作，以提高年轻人对疫苗的总体积极态度和接种率。
