Who Is Willing to Get Vaccinated? A Study into the Psychological, Socio-Demographic, and Cultural Determinants of COVID-19 Vaccination Intentions
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Sample
2.2. Survey
2.3. Symptoms of Anxiety Assessment: The 7-Item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire (GAD-7)
2.4. Health Locus of Control Assessment: The Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scale (MHLCS)
2.5. Willingness to Get COVID-19 Vaccination Motivation: The Categorization Process
2.6. Willingness to Get COVID-19 Vaccination: Motivations
2.7. Statistical Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Descriptive Statistics
3.2. Is There Anyone Responsible for the COVID-19 Pandemic?
3.3. Cross-Validation Procedure
3.4. Path Analysis
3.4.1. Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scale (MHLCS) (Chance Externality)
3.4.2. Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (Symptoms of Anxiety)
3.4.3. Perceived Psychological Status
4. Discussion
4.1. Self-Reported Reasons to Get the COVID-19 Vaccine
4.2. The Role of Beliefs about Human Responsibilities in the Pandemic
4.3. The Role of Psychological Variables on COVID-19 Vaccine-Related Decisions
4.4. Study Limitations
4.5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Appendix A. The COVID-19 Survey
Strongly Disagree | Disagree | Neitder Disagree Nor Agree | Agree | Strongly Agree | ||
1 | I am scared of contracting COVID-19 | |||||
2 | I am scared that my friends may contract COVID-19 | |||||
3 | I am scared that my family members may contract COVID-19 | |||||
4 | My health could be severely damaged if I contracted COVID-19 | |||||
5 | I think that to get COVID-19 in hospitals is more likely than in other places | |||||
6 | I think COVID-19 is more severe than the common flu | |||||
7 | I trust the Italian government and its directions to confront the pandemic | |||||
8 | I trust healthcare institutions (such as the WHO) and their directions to confront the pandemic | |||||
9 | I trust science and scientific research |
Not at All | Several Days | More tdan Half tde Days | Nearly Every Day | ||
1 | Feeling nervous, anxious, or on edge | ||||
2 | Not being able to stop or control worrying | ||||
3 | Worrying too much about different things | ||||
4 | Having trouble relaxing | ||||
5 | Being so restless that it is hard to sit still | ||||
6 | Becoming easily annoyed or irritable | ||||
7 | Feeling afraid as if something awful might happen |
Strongly Disagree | Disagree | Neitder Disagree Nor Agree | Agree | Strongly Agree | ||
1 | No matter what I do, if I am meant to get sick, I will get sick | |||||
2 | Most things that affect my health happen to me by accident | |||||
3 | Luck plays a big role in determining how soon I will recover from an illness | |||||
4 | My good health is largely a matter of good luck | |||||
5 | No matter what I do, I am likely to get sick | |||||
6 | I will stay healthy if that is meant to be so |
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When It Will Become Available to You, Will You Get the COVID-19 Vaccination? | Categories | Examples of the Given Answers | N |
---|---|---|---|
Yes, I will | Social/moral duty | It is a social duty to protect my community | 326 (28.3%) |
Vaccine’s efficacy | It is the only effective way out of the emergency | 258 (22.4%) | |
Desire to return to a “normal” (pre-pandemic) life | I want my life back | 127 (11.0%) | |
Trust | I believe in science | 126 (10.9%) | |
Self-protection | I do not want to get ill with COVID | 284 (27,5%) | |
No, I will not | Questioning the vaccine efficacy | Apparently, you can catch COVID even if you have been vaccinated | 10 (19.6%) |
Personal health issues | I have allergies that make this vaccine unsuitable for me | 7 (13.7%) | |
Questioning the vaccine’s necessity | I am not at risk of getting COVID | 5 (9.8%) | |
Generic no-vax opinions | I hate to enrich Big Pharma | 3 (5.9%) | |
Questioning the vaccine’s safety | The vaccine has not been sufficiently tested; its long-term effects are still unknown | 22 (43.1%) | |
Alternative remedies available | There are other natural ways to confront COVID-19, such as a healthy lifestyle | 4 (7.8%) | |
I do not know | Questioning the vaccine’s efficacy | I am not sure about the COVID-19 vaccine efficacy | 14 (10.3%) |
Personal health issues | I do not know weather the COVID-19 vaccine may worsen my health issues | 11 (8.1%) | |
Questioning the vaccine’s necessity | I do not know if it is necessary for me | 7 (5.1%) | |
Questioning the vaccine’s safety | I do not know if the vaccine is safe | 51 (37.5%) | |
Alternative remedies available | I think that there are other remedies that maybe are useful to prevent COVID-19 infection | 4 (2.9%) | |
COVID-19 previous infection | I have already contracted COVID-19 and I do not know if I will get the vaccination | 3 (2.2%) | |
No specific reason | I do not know | 2 (1.5%) | |
Waiting for medical advice | I will decide after consulting my doctor | 7 (5.1%) | |
Not decided yet | I have not decided yet | 14 (10.3%) | |
Insufficient/confusing information | I feel I do ot know enough about this vaccine; I have not received enough information yet | 23 (16.9%) |
Collected Variables | No + I Do Not Know (n = 157; 14.6%) | Yes (n = 916; 85.4%) | p Value |
---|---|---|---|
Age (years) | 45.04 ± 13.1 | 43.9 ± 15.27 | 0.3794 |
Sex (men) | 37 (23.4) | 312 (34.1) | 0.0095 |
Education | |||
Primary school | 0 (0) | 2 (0.22) | 0.0006 |
Secondary school | 10 (3.4) | 40 (4.4) | |
High school | 70 (44.6) | 277 (30.2) | |
University | 59 (37.6) | 379 (41.4) | |
Post-university (e.g., PhD) | 18 (11.5) | 218 (23.8) | |
Marital status | |||
Single | 16 (10.2) | 146 (15.9) | 0.1244 |
In a relationship | 15 (9.5) | 126 (13.7) | |
Married | 119 (75.8) | 601 (65.6) | |
Separated/divorced | 6 (3.8) | 32 (3.5) | |
Widowed | 1 (0.6) | 11 (1.2) | |
Geographical origin | |||
Northern Italy | 129 (82.2) | 784 (85.6) | 0.2521 |
Center Italy | 8 (5.1) | 53 (5.8) | |
South Italy | 20 (12.7) | 79 (8.6) | |
Occupation (employed) | 117 (74.5) | 664 (72.5) | 0.597 |
Sanitary job (yes) | 34 (21.7) | 315 (34.4) | 0.0017 |
Perceived physical status | 3.87 ± 0.72 | 4 ± 0.65 | 0.0149 |
Healthy participants (yes) | 113 (71.9) | 633 (69.1) | 0.4704 |
Actual diseases number | 0.36 ± 0.59 | 0.40 ± 0.66 | 0.6160 |
Perceived psychological status | 3.68 ± 0.83 | 3.82 ± 0.76 | 0.0367 |
Anxiety problems | 39 (24.8) | 182 (19.9) | 0.1547 |
Mood problems | 23 (14.7) | 125 (13.7) | 0.7362 |
Eating problems | 11 (7.0) | 38 (4.2) | 0.1130 |
Obsession and compulsion problems | 5 (3.2) | 14 (1.5) | 0.1460 |
Relationship problems | 19 (12.1) | 103 (11.2) | 0.7545 |
Psychological treatment (yes) | 75 (47.8) | 414 (45.2) | 0.5496 |
Symptoms of anxiety (GAD-7) | 7 ± 5.23 | 6.13 ± 4.41 | 0.0998 |
Health locus of control (MHLCS, chance externality) | 15.01 ± 4.68 | 13.21 ± 4.49 | <0.0001 |
Perceived probability of contracting COVID-19 (self) | 4.73 ± 2.23 | 5.21 ± 2.01 | 0.0066 |
Perceived fear of contracting COVID-19 (self) | 3.11 ± 1.14 | 3.44 ± 0.98 | 0.0006 |
Perceived fear of contracting COVID-19 (friends) | 3.41 ± 1.07 | 3.75 ± 0.82 | 0.0004 |
Perceived fear of contracting COVID-19 (family) | 3.94 ± 1.02 | 4.16 ± 0.86 | 0.0172 |
Perceived probability of severe health damage due to COVID-19 | 3.25 ± 1.02 | 3.45 ± 0.97 | 0.0204 |
Perceived probability of contracting COVID-19 if going to the hospital | 2.79 ± 1.08 | 2.41 ± 1.06 | <0.0001 |
Belief that COVID-19 is more severe than the common flu | 3.9 ± 0.89 | 4.37 ± 0.71 | <0.0001 |
Government trust | 2.68 ± 1.14 | 3.19 ± 0.99 | <0.0001 |
Health institutions trust | 2.94 ± 1.06 | 3.78 ± 0.89 | <0.0001 |
Science trust | 3.84 ± 0.87 | 4.48 ± 0.62 | <0.0001 |
Significant others’ willingness to be vaccinated against COVID-19 | 135(86.0) | 615 (67.1) | <0.0001 |
Number of vaccinations received in 2019 | 0 (0;0) | 0 (0;1) | <0.0001 |
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Giuliani, M.; Ichino, A.; Bonomi, A.; Martoni, R.; Cammino, S.; Gorini, A. Who Is Willing to Get Vaccinated? A Study into the Psychological, Socio-Demographic, and Cultural Determinants of COVID-19 Vaccination Intentions. Vaccines 2021, 9, 810. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines9080810
Giuliani M, Ichino A, Bonomi A, Martoni R, Cammino S, Gorini A. Who Is Willing to Get Vaccinated? A Study into the Psychological, Socio-Demographic, and Cultural Determinants of COVID-19 Vaccination Intentions. Vaccines. 2021; 9(8):810. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines9080810
Chicago/Turabian StyleGiuliani, Mattia, Anna Ichino, Alice Bonomi, Riccardo Martoni, Stefania Cammino, and Alessandra Gorini. 2021. "Who Is Willing to Get Vaccinated? A Study into the Psychological, Socio-Demographic, and Cultural Determinants of COVID-19 Vaccination Intentions" Vaccines 9, no. 8: 810. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines9080810