Parents’ COVID-19, HPV, and Monkeypox vaccination intention: A multilevel structural equation model of risk, benefit, barrier, and efficacy perceptions and individual characteristics

OBJECTIVE: This study seeks to comparatively examine parents’ intention to vaccinate their children for three infectious diseases, including COVID-19, HPV, and monkeypox. METHODS: Utilizing a mixed-design survey and multilevel structural equation models, we investigated if perception of the diseases and vaccines explained the variance in parents’ vaccine-specific decision-making and population difference in vaccination intention. RESULTS: Compared with the COVID-19 vaccine, parents were more willing to get an HPV vaccine for their children due to greater perceived benefit and lower perceived barrier. Concerns about vaccine safety and lower disease risk perception were associated with lower intention to get a monkeypox vaccine. Parents of color, less educated, and lower-income parents were less willing to get vaccines for their children due to low benefit perception and high perceived barriers. CONCLUSION: Parents were motivated by different social and psychological factors when deciding whether to get a COVID-19, HPV, and monkeypox vaccine for their children. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Vaccine promotion should be tailored to the characteristics of the target population and the vaccines. Underprivileged communities may be better approached with information about vaccine benefit and barriers, and vaccines for unfamiliar diseases may be better communicated with disease risk information.