Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccination Acceptance by African-American Parents: Identifying Psychosocial Barriers

The HPV vaccine offers hope that the incidence of cervical cancer can be greatly reduced in the U.S. and globally. However, because the vaccine is recommended for children and early adolescents, vaccine awareness and acceptance among parents is critical to insuring vaccine uptake and public health benefit. Although culturally specific concerns may reduce HPV vaccination among African-American youth, research has not addressed this possibility. Accordingly, the proposed study will enroll 300 mothers in a study to identify barriers to HPV vaccination among low-income, African-American teens. Surveys assessing culturally-specific barriers to HPV vaccination acceptance will be administered to both parents and their vaccine-eligible children. Upon completion of the survey, parents with vaccine-eligible daughters will be invited to receive a free HPV vaccination for their child through a local, teen-friendly health clinic. Outcome analyses will focus on identification of predictors of completed vaccinations among girls and barriers to vaccine acceptance among mothers of teenage sons. Our study will provide critically important behavioral outcome data linking barriers to vaccination to subsequent vaccination decisions in a real-world, health care setting.