Validation of the vaccine conspiracy beliefs scale

Abstract

BackgroundParents’ vaccine attitudes influence their decision regarding child vaccination. To date, no study has evaluated the impact of vaccine conspiracy beliefs on human papillomavirus vaccine acceptance. The authors assessed the validity of a Vaccine Conspiracy Beliefs Scale (VCBS) and determined whether this scale was associated with parents’ willingness to vaccinate their son with the HPV vaccine.MethodsCanadian parents completed a 24-min online survey in 2014. Measures included socio-demographic variables, HPV knowledge, health care provider recommendation, Conspiracy Mentality Questionnaire (CMQ), the seven-item VCBS, and parents’ willingness to vaccinate their son at two price points.ResultsA total of 1427 Canadian parents completed the survey in English (61.2%) or French (38.8%). A Factor Analysis revealed the VCBS is one-dimensional and has high internal consistency (α=0.937). The construct validity of the VCBS was supported by a moderate relationship with the CMQ (r=0.44, p<0.001). Hierarchical regression analyses found the VCBS is negatively related to parents’ willingness to vaccinate their son with the HPV vaccine at both price points (‘free’ or ‘$300′) after controlling for gender, age, household income, education level, HPV knowledge, and health care provider recommendation.ConclusionsThe VCBS is a brief, valid scale that will be useful in further elucidating the correlates of vaccine hesitancy. Future research could use the VCBS to evaluate the impact of vaccine conspiracies beliefs on vaccine uptake and how concerns about vaccination may be challenged and reversed.

Beyond confidence: Development of a measure assessing the 5C psychological antecedents of vaccination

“…Individuals who have a high motivation for cost-benefit analysis had a low risk attitude (r = -. 19) and were therefore rather risk averse. Their perception of disease risks (r = -.20) as well as of vaccination risks (r = .34) was significantly correlated with calculation.…”

Using an integrated conceptual framework to investigate parents' HPV vaccine decision for their daughters and sons

“…1 General vaccine attitudes were assessed using two psychometrically validated scales: the Vaccine Conspiracy Beliefs Scale (VCBS) and the Vaccine Hesitancy Scale (VHS). 14,15 The VCBS has seven items assessed on a 7-point Likert-type rating scale (α=.95). The VHS was developed by the World Health Organization Sage Working Group on Vaccine Hesitancy, 30 and psychometrically validated by our research group.…”

“…13 Furthermore, positive attitudes towards vaccines in general are related to HPV vaccine acceptance. 14,15 Notably, a strong health care provider (HCP) recommendation significantly improves parental vaccine acceptance. 4,11,16 Other social influences, including by a partner, family, friends, or online social network, can also influence parents' decision.…”

Investigating Canadian parents' HPV vaccine knowledge, attitudes and behaviour: a study protocol for a longitudinal national online survey

“…Questionnaire items include previously validated scales. [70][71][72][73][74] Participants will be asked to identify themselves as a parent or guardian, report the number of children they have and their children's ages and genders. Parents with more than one child who meet the inclusion criteria will be asked to answer the questionnaire for the child who has had the most recent birthday, a randomisation technique previously employed.…”

“…66 The questionnaire assesses sociodemographics, HPV and HPV vaccine knowledge (using validated scales), 71 PAPM stage, HPV vaccine willingness, HPV vaccine coverage, HCP recommendation (including the strength of the recommendation), HPV attitudes (using validated scales), 73 75 motivation towards vaccination, vaccine hesitancy (using a developed scale) 74 and vaccine conspiracy beliefs (using a validated scale). 70 Items within validated questionnaires are administered in a random order to ameliorate any order effect and invariant responding. 76 Five open-ended qualitative questions will provide nuance in capturing details of parents' subjective perspectives on decision-making.…”