"Latter-Day Saint Beliefs Informing Parental Perceptions of the HPV Vac" by Natalie Todd

Date of Conferral

1-24-2025

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Health Education and Promotion

Advisor

DeBran Tarver

Abstract

A variety of factors could influence the use of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, such as religion. However, the perceptions of Latter-Day Saint (LDS) parents on the HPV vaccine are unknown. Learning about the perceptions of LDS parents could help guide future interventions to help increase vaccine uptake. The purpose of this study was to explore how LDS parents perceive the HPV vaccine severity, benefits, and barriers in the United States, how the beliefs of the LDS religion may influence these views, and the experiences of parents regarding susceptibility to HPV and cues to action to HPV prevention. Using the health belief model framework, key research questions were used to examine LDS parental perceptions about the HPV vaccine and how LDS beliefs contribute to these perceptions, as well as parental experiences with the susceptibility to HPV and cues to action that would encourage HPV vaccination. This was a general qualitative study in which individual interviews were used through emails and Zoom calls. Dedoose was used for coding and bracketing the data and an interpretive phenomenological analysis was used. A majority of participants had favorable views of the HPV vaccine and saw cancer prevention as the main benefit to receiving the vaccine. However, few of the participants had any experience with the vaccine itself. Lastly, most participants stated that their faith did not inform their views on the HPV vaccine. Future studies should look at the statistics on HPV vaccination rate for LDS children, reasons for lack of experience with the HPV vaccine, and the LDS religion’s official standing on the HPV vaccine. The findings in this study could help improve the dissemination of information on the HPV vaccine and improved accessibility to the vaccine.

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