Parental Attitudes About Sexually Transmitted Infection Vaccination for Their Adolescent Children

Abstract

Parents were accepting of the idea of vaccinating their adolescent children against STIs. The most salient issues were severity of infection and vaccine efficacy, not sexual transmissibility. Parents also favored vaccines for infections that had no method of behavioral prevention available.

Effect of the decision-making process in the family on HPV vaccination rates among adolescents 9–17 years of age

“…Mothers have been shown to be highly involved in their children's healthcare decisions, especially with regards to HPV vaccination. [8][9][10][11][12] Less is understood about the role that fathers or pediatric patients play in this process. It has been observed that Hispanic and black fathers prefer to defer decisions about HPV vaccination to female caretakers or trusted friends, while female Hispanics often prefer to make these decisions collaboratively.…”

American Cancer Society Guideline for Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccine Use to Prevent Cervical Cancer and Its Precursors

“…The most salient issues include high efficacy, safety, severity of infection, perceived risk, physician recommendation, and, for providers, professional society recommendation. Acceptability by parents and providers appears to be higher for older adolescents, although one study 138 found that age was not a factor for parents of adolescent children. Some parents expressed concern that a vaccine would increase unsafe sexual behavior, 118,119 while another study reported that sexual transmission did not affect parental attitudes.…”

“…Several small studies on HPV vaccine acceptability among young women, [134][135][136] parents of adolescents, 118,119,137,138 and providers 139,140 have suggested that overall acceptability for a prophylactic HPV vaccine is high. Multiple factors influenced attitudes.…”

The Promise of the Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Does Not Confer Immunity Against Ethical Reflection

“…Some believe this could promote conversations about sexual behavior that parents might be unwilling to have or be uncomfortable discussing [34][35][36]. Others think that talk about sex could encourage undesirable behavior, with some parents worrying that consent to have the vaccine could be taken as a warrant for early sexual activity [29][30][31][32][34][35][36].…”

“…Although some parents might worry that vaccination could promote risky sexual behavior, the majority of them concede that the benefits provided from the vaccine outweigh such risks [35][36][37]. Moreover, parents initially opposed to immunization change their minds in favor of allowing vaccination when they are given more information about the virus and its associated ills [38].…”