The Influence of Social Media and Institutional Trust on Vaccine Hesitancy in France: Examining Direct and Mediating Processes

Abstract

Vaccine hesitancy (VH) remains an ongoing challenge in French society. This project explored how institutional trust and preference for information via social media (PISM) drive hesitancy. Across a large, nationally represented population, our findings show that PISM and trust are strongly correlated measures, with both independently predicting VH. Subsequent mediation tests show that social media operates as primarily an indirect contributor to VH through trust. Additional tests involving VH and non-VH typologies revealed that institutional trust consistently predicts greater general support for vaccines and reduced distrust in vaccination. Conversely, PISM directly drives vaccine distrust, with its impact on non-hesitancy fully mediated by institutional trust. Overall, these findings point to the relevance for researchers and public health deciders to address the nature by which people utilize social media information resources and how that interacts with levels of trust for national institutions.

Health Literacy and Health Care System Confidence as Determinants of Attitudes to Vaccines in France: Representative Cross-Sectional Study

“…The level of vaccine hesitancy in this study sample is consistent with other studies conducted in France [ 23 , 24 ]. Our regression model confirms the “confidence, complacency, constrain” (so-called “3C”) model developed by the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization Working Group [ 2 ].…”

“…After the participants’ consent was obtained, we collected information on respondents’ sociodemographic characteristics such as age, sex, educational attainment, and income, as well as their attitudes and practices on a number of issues including vaccination, politics, alternative medicine, and trust in various institutions. Our main outcome is the attitude of the French adult population toward vaccines, using a widely recognized typology for assessing attitudes toward vaccines in France [ 23 , 24 ]. We made a typology in 3 categories based on the answers to 5 questions with the same format, asking whether the responders were in favor of (1) vaccines in general, (2) the flu vaccine, (3) the hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccine, (4) the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, and (5) the measles vaccine.…”