Vaccine hesitancy: what psychological factors are involved?

20 Feb

esitazione-vaccinale-fattori-psicologici

Lvaccine hesitancy is a term used to refer to the delay in acceptance o al vaccine refusal Despite the availability offered by the various centers involved in vaccination campaigns, it is a complex construct from a psychological perspective because it varies depending on place, time, and sociocultural context.

This article therefore aims to understand what the psychological factors related to vaccine hesitancy.

From yesterday to today: what has changed

The Severe acute respiratory syndrome caused by coronavirus 2, also known by the acronym SARS-CoV-2, first appeared in Wuhan, China, in December 2019.

Its spread was so rapid that within a month, the emergency situation had engulfed the entire globe. This prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare a global pandemic on March 11, 2020.

The various States thus found themselves having to manage an emergency situation and introduce restrictive measures aimed at slow the spread of the virus, with the aim of protecting the community and managing admissions to the healthcare sector, also in light of the absence of an effective treatment or vaccine against the disease.

From a psychological point of view, the presence of an invisible enemy has generated the onset of stress, depression, feelings of loneliness and anxiety in the population, triggering a high demand for online psychological and psychotherapeutic services.

Today the epidemiological situation has changed because they are four vaccines have been approved – Pfizer, Moderna, Astrazeneca, and Johnson & Johnson – as a measure to prevent the unstoppable flow of infections and protect society from the virus, as well as save the economies of various countries.

If until recently SARS-CoV-2 represented the one and only threat to global health, today we have started talking about vaccine hesitancy, a choice that the WHO classifies as “one of the top ten threats to global health”.

Scientific literature has therefore questioned this choice/behavior to understand the reason why Some individuals are hesitant about getting vaccinated and more generally to vaccination programs.

Per identify the psychological processes linked to vaccine hesitancy several researches have been carried out.

This approach, according to the authors of this article (Nazli et al., 2021), can provide useful insights and act as a guide in adapting public health messages consistently with the psychological tendencies of these individuals.

Vaccine hesitancy behaviors: research hypotheses

From the research conducted in this field some results have emerged factors related to vaccine hesitancy, such as:

altruistic beliefs;
personality traits such as neuroticism and conscientiousness;
conspiracy, religious and/or paranoid beliefs;
distrust of government officials, scientists, and health workers.

The vaccine hesitancy behavior tends to increase overall although the results vary between different countries.

This study, published in the journal “Journal of Medical Science” he therefore set himself the goal of studying the psychological aspects related to vaccine hesitancy in an attempt to detect the relationship between “intolerance of uncertainty”, “conspiracy theory beliefs” and “COVID-19 phobia”.

The authors hypothesize that individuals who embrace conspiracy theories and have a low tolerance for uncertainty have behaviors that increase vaccine hesitancy and refusal.

Identifying the psychological factors of individuals who are hesitant and resistant to the vaccine is of fundamental importance not only for protecting personal health but also for controlling the epidemic.

Understanding these factors could thus help design targeted public health actions focusing on specific objectives.

Research Methodology

This study is a cross-sectional study conducted during the COVID-19 outbreak. Participants were recruited through social media platforms and email. Surveys were administered through the “SurveyMonkey” platform, which allowed them to be distributed and analyzed online.

Using psychometric tools, participants first filled out questionnaires asking whether they had been infected by the virus and how ready they felt to receive the vaccine. The tools used in the study were:

Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale (IUS-12);
Conspiracy Mentalicy Scale (CMS);
COVID-19 Phobia Scale.

The sample consisted of 467 people aged between 18 and 65 who participated in the study between March and April 2021. Participants received all the information relating to the study and decided to participate voluntarily.

Vaccine hesitancy: study results

The results of this study confirm two of the three initial hypotheses. First, the relationship between low tolerance for uncertainty and increased vaccine hesitancy or refusal has not been significantly supported empirically.

However, researchers found a positive correlation between the presence of conspiracy beliefs and greater vaccine hesitancy.

The third hypothesis was also confirmed: the Individuals who do not fear contracting the virus are more hesitant about vaccination.

From a statistical point of view, the following results were observed with respect to the sample in question:

15% of respondents have a negative attitude towards vaccines;
44.1% said they trust science and want to get the vaccine;
6% said that the vaccine causes negative health effects and consequently they would not join the vaccination campaign;
3% of the sample refused the vaccine;

In support of these findings, another study conducted on 5,024 people from Turkey and the United Kingdom, highlighted that 31% of Turkish subjects and 14% of English subjects declared to to be undecided about vaccination.

Gender differences

According to the researchers, these results point to a negative scenario with respect to the vaccination campaign, which currently appears to be the only way out of the pandemic. It was also discovered that women have more negative attitudes towards the vaccine.

Women’s negative attitudes are consistent with various findings reported in the literature. It would appear that these decisions among women are also influenced by other aspects of their own and their children’s health. As such, they tend to search for more information online and are consequently more likely to be exposed to inaccurate information.

The Role of Social Media

Increased information seeking is an important factor to consider given that information is very often spread on social media platforms. Ambiguous and contradictory messages about the effect of vaccines and the virus.

It was observed in a study that analyzed all the Tweets related to the discussion on vaccines that Individuals who have negative attitudes towards the vaccine tend to share misleading information. Added to this is the sharing of messages inspired by conspiracy theories.

Most social media users in the Turkey area are young, and this information becomes useful in explaining that the age of the “anti-vaccine” group is significantly younger.

The role of age

This finding is consistent with another scientific study that investigated the relationship between age and negative attitude towards the vaccine. A study of 735 university students found that 13.9% of them would not get vaccinated.

No differences were found between participants taking healthcare-related academic courses versus those studying other disciplines.

From this point of view, researchers believe that for the understanding of the attitudes towards the vaccine It will be useful to understand if there is a difference in these people’s access to information or in distinguishing accurate information from misleading information.

The role of conspiracy theories

The relationship between people who manifest avaccination hesitancy and conspiracy theories It may be useful in understanding this phenomenon.

The so-called “anti-vaccine” group received very low scores on the COVID-19 Phobia Scale. Researchers hypothesize that these people were less concerned about the virus than others because they underestimated the potential negative effects of the disease.

Several participants stated that the mass media and politicians convey “exaggerated messages and scenarios”.

Previous studies have shown that believing in the natural origin of the coronavirus is a factor that increases the predisposition to vaccination.

On the contrary, those who believe that the virus was artificially created in a laboratory are underestimating the pandemic situation and consequently a negative attitude towards vaccines.

With respect to the Consipracy Mentality Scale, a correlation was observed between the high scores obtained and the vaccine hesitancy behaviors. Vaccine resistance was also found in another study involving around 3,000 people from the UK and Ireland, ranging from 31 to 35%.

Researchers in the aforementioned study reported that people who exhibit vaccine resistance were more likely to consult sources of information related to conspiracy theories, rather than those provided by scientists and/or health professionals.

Even towards politiciansanti-vaccine attitude It correlates with a strong distrust of the authorities. An analysis of anti-vax websites revealed a massive presence of information revolving around topics such as “human rights violations” and “vaccine side effects.”

People who tend to lean toward conspiracy theories may often harbor beliefs that the coronavirus was produced in a laboratory and spread in a planned manner.

According to researchers, people’s general beliefs about conspiracy theories and hypotheses may be reflected in their ideas about the vaccine..

The psychological perspective on vaccine hesitancy

From a psychological point of view, the mental processes and the presence of anxiety associated with the virus can influence health behaviors generating two lines of action: some seek immediate treatment and see vaccines as something that can protect their health and that of their loved ones.

In other subjects, the presence of a cognitive and emotional process combined with specific beliefs can generate greater uncertainty, confusion and therefore resistance to the vaccine.

A previous study has highlighted how concerns about vaccine safety and its side effects may be associated with negative attitudes towards the vaccination campaign.

According to the researchers, it is therefore important to address and better understand these emotional processes and provide adequate information that can help these people to Overcoming vaccine resistance and uncertainty.

By Dr. Giorgia Lauro

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