Latinx youth's and parents' covid-19 beliefs, vaccine hesitancy and vaccination rates: Longitudinal associations in a community sample.
Namoonga M Mantina, Maiya G Block Ngaybe, Katharine H Zeiders, Kayla M Osman, Ada M Wilkinson-Lee, Antoinette M Landor, Lindsay T Hoyt
Author Information
Namoonga M Mantina: Department of Health Promotion Sciences, Mel & Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, United States of America. ORCID
Maiya G Block Ngaybe: Department of Health Promotion Sciences, Mel & Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, United States of America. ORCID
Katharine H Zeiders: Norton School of Human Ecology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, United States of America.
Kayla M Osman: Norton School of Human Ecology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, United States of America.
Ada M Wilkinson-Lee: Department of Mexican American Studies, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, United States of America.
Antoinette M Landor: Department of Human Development and Family Science, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, United States of America.
Lindsay T Hoyt: Department of Psychology, Fordham University, Bronx, New York, United States of America.
INTRODUCTION: The Latinx population has the second highest COVID-19 death rate among racial/ethnic groups in the United States and less than half of Latinx youth aged 5-17 years old completed their COVID-19 primary vaccination series as of September 2022. COVID-19 vaccine misinformation detrimentally impacts vaccination rates. In this study, we examined factors that predicted Latinx youth COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and vaccination status. METHODS: A community-based sample of 290 Latinx parent and adolescent dyads from a Southwestern metropolitan area of the United States who were recruited to complete an online survey at baseline at T1 (August 2020 -March 2021) and one year later. We tested a longitudinal mediation model in which we examined individual and family factors that would predict youth COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and vaccination status over time. RESULTS: Youth's pandemic disbelief (i.e., the belief that the COVID-19 pandemic is a conspiracy or not real) predicted greater youth's COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, and in turn, a lower likelihood of youth's COVID-19 vaccination. Youth's pandemic disbelief also predicted greater parent's vaccination hesitancy which, in turn, predicted greater youth's vaccination hesitancy and a lower likelihood of COVID-19 vaccination. Parents' pandemic disbelief predicted their own COVID-19 hesitancy, but not youth hesitancy. DISCUSSION: Our study findings provide initial evidence that general pandemic disbelief was a significant driver of vaccine hesitancy and vaccination among Latinx families. The study contributes to the limited research investigating COVID-19 vaccination in the Latinx community and among Latinx youth, further aiding how COVID-19 vaccine disparities can be mitigated among racial/ethnic populations.
References
PLoS One. 2021 May 12;16(5):e0251605
[PMID: 33979412]
