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Background A high population level of vaccination is required to control the COVID-19 pandemic, but not all Canadians are convinced of the value and safety of vaccination. Understanding more about these individuals can aid in developing strategies to increase their acceptance of a COVID-19 vaccine. The objectives of this study were to describe COVID-19 vaccine acceptance, hesitancy and refusal rates and associated factors in Saskatchewan, Canada. Methods This is a cross-sequential study that consisted of pooled responses from weighted samples of 9,252 Saskatchewan adults (≥18 years) across nine rounds of data collection between May 4, 2020 and April 3, 2021. The outcome variable was vaccine intention: vaccine acceptance, hesitancy, and refusal. The independent variables were layered into socio-demographic factors, risk of exposure to coronavirus, mitigating behaviours, and perceptions of COVID-19. Data were analyzed using multinomial logistic regression and a classification and regression tree. Results Seventy-six percent of the respondents indicated that they had been or were willing to be vaccinated, 13% had not yet decided, and the remaining 11% said they would not be vaccinated. Factors that increased the likelihood of vaccine refusal and hesitancy were lower education level, financial instability, Indigenous status, and not being concerned about spreading the coronavirus. Perceiving COVID-19 to be more of a threat to one’s community and believing that one had a higher risk of illness or death from COVID-19 decreased the likelihood of both vaccine refusal and hesitancy. Women and newcomers to Canada were more likely to be unsure about getting vaccinated. Respondents who did not plan to be vaccinated were less likely to wear face masks and practice physical distancing. Conclusion While many Canadians have voluntarily and eagerly become vaccinated already, reaching sufficient coverage of the population is likely to require targeted efforts to convince those who are resistant or unsure. Identifying and overcoming any barriers to vaccination that exist within the socio-demographic groups we found were least likely to be vaccinated is a crucial component.

Although structural equation modelling (SEM) is a popular analytic technique in the social sciences, it remains subject to misuse. The purposes of this paper are to assist psychologists interested in using SEM by: 1) providing a brief overview of this method; and 2) describing best practice recommendations for testing models and reporting findings. We also outline several resources that psychologists with limited familiarity about SEM may find helpful.

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Studies on work-family conflict amongst university faculty members indicate that women experience significantly more conflict in balancing their dual roles than their male counterparts. Research suggests that female faculty may be disadvantaged because of the norms structuring academic environments, which seemingly accommodate the life courses of men. Interestingly, the experience of work-family conflict for graduate students, who are besieged by many of the same environmental forces as female faculty, has been largely ignored within the scholarly literature. In the present study, qualitative responses regarding work-family conflict from 65 academic women (32 faculty; 33 graduate students) from universities and colleges across Canada were submitted to thematic analysis. Results revealed three interconnected themes: masculine workplace norms, the need to choose between work and family, and consequences of work-family conflict. The findings point to the need for academic institutions to critically examine their cultures surrounding motherhood in an effort to provide hospitable environments for faculty and graduate students who are, or who will become, parents.