Factors Underlying Parental Decisions About Childhood Vaccination: First Insights from Czech Mothers
Abstract
Although vaccination rates remain high given the compulsory immunization scheme, the Czech Republic is no exception in the decline of public support for (childhood) vaccination. The study represents a first insight into the parental decision-making process in this context.
An on-line survey of mothers was conducted (n = 180) in order to obtain data for the theoretical model based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB). The theory proved itself as a strong predictive instrument and the results suggest that the attitude about the consequences of the vaccination is the main predictor of the decision in this non-representative sample of mothers.
Also, the perceived threat of contraindications of the vaccine proves to be influential. The beliefs that mothers hold about the vaccine were analyzed according to mothers' intentions to vaccinate (n = 70) or not to (n = 110).
These results support the idea that mothers, especially those who do not want to vaccinate their children against pneumococcal infections, decide primarily according to their attitude towards the vaccine and vaccination more generally. The results also suggest a relationship with mothers' worldviews and concepts of health.