Furlan Victoria A, Chin Brian N, Menounos Molly, Anselmi Dina
Department of Psychology, Trinity College, 300 Summit Street, Hartford, CT 06106, USA.
Vaccines (Basel). 2024 Jul 30;12(8):853. doi: 10.3390/vaccines12080853.
This observational study examined the relationships between age, vaccine conspiracy beliefs, and COVID-19 vaccine uptake in emerging adults (ages 20-30) and middle-aged adults (ages 50-60) residing in the United States. It also examined sociodemographic predictors of vaccine conspiracy beliefs and COVID-19 vaccine uptake-political conservativism, household income, and educational attainment. We recruited 198 emerging adults and 198 middle-aged adults to complete an online survey assessing vaccine conspiracy beliefs and COVID-19 vaccination status. First, we found that emerging adults reported stronger vaccine conspiracy beliefs than middle-aged adults (estimated mean difference = 0.43, 95CI = 0.08, 0.79, = 0.017), but that emerging adults and middle-aged adults did not differ in their likelihood of being vaccinated with estimated rates of COVID-19 vaccination uptake of 63% in emerging adults and 64% in middle-aged adults. Political conservativism was associated with stronger vaccine conspiracy beliefs and lower COVID-19 vaccine uptake. Lower household income and lower educational attainment were associated with lower COVID-19 vaccine uptake but not associated with vaccine conspiracy beliefs. Second, we found that age moderated the relationship between vaccine conspiracy beliefs and COVID-19 vaccine uptake; stronger vaccine conspiracy beliefs predicted lower COVID-19 vaccine uptake among middle-aged adults (B = -0.63, 95CI = -0.90, -0.36, < 0.001) but were not associated with COVID-19 vaccine uptake among emerging adults (B = -0.21, 95CI = -0.47, 0.05, = 0.12). These results provide insight into the sociodemographic and psychological factors that influence COVID-19 vaccine uptake. Our findings can help to inform the design of targeted public health interventions to increase vaccine uptake in the ongoing fight against COVID-19. Given the crucial role of vaccination in controlling the spread of COVID-19, it is also imperative for future studies to continue investigating how age and vaccine conspiratorial beliefs intersect to impact vaccine uptake.
这项观察性研究调查了美国新兴成年人（20至30岁）和中年成年人（50至60岁）的年龄、疫苗阴谋论信念与新冠疫苗接种情况之间的关系。该研究还调查了疫苗阴谋论信念和新冠疫苗接种情况的社会人口学预测因素——政治保守主义、家庭收入和教育程度。我们招募了198名新兴成年人和198名中年成年人，以完成一项评估疫苗阴谋论信念和新冠疫苗接种状况的在线调查。首先，我们发现新兴成年人报告的疫苗阴谋论信念比中年成年人更强（估计平均差异 = 0.43，95%置信区间 = 0.08，0.79，P = 0.017），但新兴成年人和中年成年人的接种可能性没有差异，新兴成年人的新冠疫苗接种率估计为63%，中年成年人的接种率为64%。政治保守主义与更强的疫苗阴谋论信念和更低的新冠疫苗接种率相关。较低的家庭收入和较低的教育程度与较低的新冠疫苗接种率相关，但与疫苗阴谋论信念无关。其次，我们发现年龄调节了疫苗阴谋论信念与新冠疫苗接种情况之间的关系；更强的疫苗阴谋论信念预示着中年成年人的新冠疫苗接种率较低（B = -0.63，95%置信区间 = -0.90，-0.36，P < 0.001），但与新兴成年人的新冠疫苗接种情况无关（B = -0.21，95%置信区间 = -0.47，0.05，P = 0.12）。这些结果为影响新冠疫苗接种情况的社会人口学和心理因素提供了见解。我们的研究结果有助于为有针对性的公共卫生干预措施的设计提供信息，以在当前抗击新冠疫情的斗争中提高疫苗接种率。鉴于疫苗接种在控制新冠疫情传播中的关键作用，未来的研究继续调查年龄和疫苗阴谋论信念如何相互作用以影响疫苗接种情况也势在必行。
