title: College women's HPV vaccine decision narratives.
abstract: Drawing on 38 in-depth qualitative interviews with college women and college health clinicians, we collected human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine decision narratives to identify the implicit and explicit values underlying HPV vaccine decision making. Narratives of vaccine acceptance and resistance were identified. Vaccine acceptance narratives consisted of four themes: supportive family messages, explicit health care provider endorsement, peer descriptive norms reducing stigma of vaccination, and disease framing (e.g., cancer, HPV) shaping vaccine benefit perceptions. Vaccine resistance narratives consisted of five themes: skepticism of vaccine safety, invoking alternative prevention strategies, articulating stigmatizing HPV messages, overcoming self-efficacy barriers (e.g., cost, availability, time, and fear of parental disclosure), and delay strategies. Common to all decision narratives was that relationship status framed college women's perceptions of HPV susceptibility. Theoretical and practical implications for designing HPV vaccine messages aimed at college-aged women are discussed.
authors.affiliation: The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16801, USA. sxh343@psu.edu
authors.forename: Suellen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hopfer
authors.forename: Jessie R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Clippard
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D003258:Consumer Behavior; D003469:Culture; D003657:Decision Making; D064420:Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007114:Immunization / Q000523:psychology*; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000517:prevention & control*; D053918:Papillomavirus Vaccines; D010379:Peer Group; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012938:Social Perception; D057545:Social Stigma; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D013637:Tape Recording; D035502:Trust; D014495:Universities; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016387:Women's Health; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D053918:Papillomavirus Vaccines