Factors Associated with College Students’ Intentions to Vaccinate Their Daughters Against HPV: Protecting the Next Generation

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a contemporary public health concern because of its association with cervical cancer. Despite evidence about HPV vaccination benefits, debate surrounds whether or not to vaccinate American youth. While no nationwide mandate exists, understanding the behaviors and intentions of future parents may provide insight about our ability to protect the next generation of school-aged youth. The purposes of this study were to examine factors associated with unmarried college students’ intentions to: (1) vaccinate their daughters against HPV and (2) give their daughters the choice about whether or not to be vaccinated. Data were analyzed from 1606 college students aged 18–26 using an internet-delivered questionnaire. Two binary logistic regression analyses were performed identifying predictor variables associated with participants’ intentions when having daughters in the future to vaccinate them against HPV and whether or not they would let their daughters decide to get the vaccination. Relative to those who did not intend to vaccinate their daughters against HPV, participants who were female (OR 1.55, P = 0.018), sexually active (OR 1.62, P = 0.001), diagnosed with HPV (OR 2.64, P < 0.001), received a flu shot in the past 12 months (OR 1.63, P = 0.002), perceived the HPV vaccine to be safe (OR 1.19, P < 0.001), and supported HPV vaccination mandates for school-aged youth (OR 2.58, P < 0.001) were more likely to report intentions of vaccinating their daughters against HPV. Participants who were sexually active (OR 1.45, P = 0.002) and perceived the HPV vaccine to be safe (OR 1.05, P = 0.012) were more likely to report they would allow their daughters to choose whether to be vaccinated against HPV. Until HPV vaccination mandates are enacted, parental support of vaccines are among the most effective way of increasing vaccine uptake. Identifying HPV vaccination support among future parents has potential to inform parent vaccination education programs related and advocacy for HPV vaccination policies.