Asking Mom: Formative Research for an HPV Vaccine Campaign Targeting Mothers of Adolescent Girls

Abstract

Vaccination against the types of human papillomavirus (HPV) that cause about 70% of cervical cancers is approved for use in girls and women between 9 and 26 years of age and recommended routinely in 11-12-year-old girls. This article reports on the systematic theory-based formative research conducted to develop HPV vaccine messages for a campaign targeting racially diverse mothers of nonvaccinated 11-12-year-old girls in rural Southeastern United States. A consortium of 13 county health departments concerned about high rates of cervical cancer in their region relative to state and national averages initiated the campaign. The research examined behavioral determinants for vaccination decisions as well as mothers' reactions to message frames and emotional appeals. On the basis of focus groups and intercept interviews (n = 79), the authors demonstrated how preproduction message research and production message testing were used to develop messages that would motivate mothers of preteen girls. Core emotional truths that emerged were a mother's instinct to protect her daughter from harm and to embrace aspirations for her daughter's future. Mothers also reacted more positively to text about preventing cervical cancer than about preventing HPV, a sexually transmitted disease. Mothers preferred message concepts with photos of minorities and Caucasian mothers and daughters.

Barriers and facilitators to HPV vaccination of young women in high-income countries: a qualitative systematic review and evidence synthesis

“…However, endorsement from a governmental source counteracted these concerns for other parents: “ At least [ with ] the [ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ] you know they ’ ve got some validity behind their name that gives some validity to the drug maker because most drug makers I think are just out there to make a buck ” [Mother, USA] [67]. …”

The Power & Perspective of Mommy Bloggers: Formative Research with Social Media Opinion Leaders about HPV Vaccination

“…Direct-to-consumer campaigns have focused primarily on influencing the mother, given her role in health decision-making and the early age of recommended administration [13] [15].…”

“…A draft blog post was also written and made available upon request. The post was drafted to be consistent with the CDC key messages, used gain-framed messages [47] [15], and was written in plain language to discuss the vaccine in terms of mothers' real life experiences (e.g. worrying about children, desire to protect them and feeling overwhelmed by all the decisions parents need to make).…”

Underdeveloped or Underreported? Coverage of Pretesting Practices and Recommendations for Design of Text Message–Based Health Behavior Change Interventions

“…Some common methods of message pretesting involve focus groups, which are group discussions led by a moderator (Lindlof & Taylor, 2010) or intercept interviews, which occur when an individual is approached and asked to provide feedback on a message or set of messages (e.g., Cates, Ortiz, Shafer, Romocki, & Coyne-Beasley, 2012;Hennink-Kaminski & Dougall, 2009;Shafer, Cates, Diehl, & Hartmann, 2011). Other approaches have also been used, however, including experiments and online evaluations (e.g., Whittingham, Ruiter, Zimbile, & Kok, 2008).…”