Project description:This study investigated the influences of mother-daughter communication and social media on mothers' HPV vaccine refusal for their daughters aged 9-17. A cross-sectional online survey among 11,728 mothers of girls aged 9-17 in Shenzhen, China was implemented between July and October 2023. Multi-level logistic regression models were fitted. Among 11,728 participants, 43.2% refused to have their daughters receive an HPV vaccination. In multivariate analysis, more openness in the mother-daughter communication (AOR: 0.99, 95%CI: 0.98, 0.99), perceived more positive outcomes of mother-daughter communication (AOR: 0.77, 95%CI: 0.75, 0.79), higher frequency of exposure to testimonials about daughters' HPV vaccination (AOR: 0.81, 95%CI: 0.78, 0.85) and information encouraging parents to vaccinate their daughters against HPV on social media (AOR: 0.76, 95%CI: 0.73, 0.79), and thoughtful consideration of the veracity of the information specific to HPV vaccines (AOR: 0.80, 95%CI: 0.77, 0.83) were associated with lower vaccine refusal. Mothers who were not the main decision-makers of daughters' HPV vaccination (AOR: 1.28 to 1.46), negative outcome expectancies of mother-daughter communication (AOR: 1.06, 95%CI: 1.04, 1.08), and mothers' HPV vaccine refusal (AOR: 2.81, 95%CI: 2.58, 3.06) were associated with higher vaccine refusal for their daughters. The level of mothers' HPV vaccine refusal for their daughters was high in China. Openness and outcome expectancies of mother-daughter communication and information exposure on social media were considered key determinants of HPV vaccine refusal for daughters. Future HPV vaccination programs should consider these interpersonal factors.
Project description:Gender inequality starts early in life. Parents tend to prefer boys over girls, which is manifested in reproductive behavior, marital life, and parents' pastimes and investments in their children. While social media and sharing information about children (so-called "sharenting") have become an integral part of parenthood, whether and how gender preference shapes the online behavior of users are not well known. In this paper we use public posts made by 635,665 users from Saint Petersburg on a popular Russian social networking site, to investigate public mentions of daughters and sons on social media. We find that both men and women mention sons more often than daughters in their posts. We also find that posts featuring sons receive more "likes" on average. Our results indicate that girls are underrepresented in parents' digital narratives about their children, in a country with an above-average ranking on gender parity. This gender imbalance may send a message that girls are less important than boys or that they deserve less attention, thus reinforcing gender inequality from an early age.
Project description:In many mammals, early social experience is critical to developing species-appropriate adult behaviors. Although mother-infant interactions play an undeniably significant role in social development, other individuals in the social milieu may also influence infant outcomes. Additionally, the social skills necessary for adult success may differ between the sexes. In chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), adult males are more gregarious than females and rely on a suite of competitive and cooperative relationships to obtain access to females. In fission-fusion species, including humans and chimpanzees, subgroup composition is labile and individuals can vary the number of individuals with whom they associate. Thus, mothers in these species have a variety of social options. In this study, we investigated whether wild chimpanzee maternal subgrouping patterns differed based on infant sex. Our results show that mothers of sons were more gregarious than mothers of daughters; differences were especially pronounced during the first 6 mo of life, when infant behavior is unlikely to influence maternal subgrouping. Furthermore, mothers with sons spent significantly more time in parties containing males during the first 6 mo. These early differences foreshadow the well-documented sex differences in adult social behavior, and maternal gregariousness may provide sons with important observational learning experiences and social exposure early in life. The presence of these patterns in chimpanzees raises questions concerning the evolutionary history of differential social exposure and its role in shaping sex-typical behavior in humans.
Project description:In preparation for the introduction of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, we investigated awareness and knowledge of HPV/HPV vaccine and potential acceptability to HPV vaccine among mothers with a teenage daughter in Weihai, Shandong, China. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2013 with a sample of 1850 mothers who had a daughter (aged 9-17 years) attending primary, junior and senior high schools. In the final sample (N = 1578, response rate 85.30%), awareness of HPV was reported by 305 (19.32%) mothers. Awareness varied significantly by daughter's age (P<0.01), mother's education level (P<0.01), mother's occupation (P<0.01), household income (P<0.01) and residence type (P<0.01). Knowledge about HPV/HPV vaccine was poor with a mean total score of 3.56 (SD = 2.40) out of a possible score of 13. Mothers with a higher education level reported higher levels of knowledge (P = 0.02). Slightly more than one-fourth (26.49%) of mothers expressed their potential acceptability of HPV vaccine for their daughters. Acceptability increased along with increased daughters' age (P<0.01), household income (P<0.01) and knowledge level (P<0.01). House wives and unemployed mothers had the highest acceptability (P<0.01). The most common reasons for not accepting HPV vaccination were "My daughter is too young to have risk of cervical cancer (30.95%)", "The vaccine has not been widely used, and the decision will be made after it is widely used (24.91%)", "Worry about the safety of the vaccine (22.85%)". Awareness and knowledge of HPV/HPV vaccines are poor and HPV vaccine acceptability is low among these Chinese mothers. These results may help inform appropriate health education programs in this population.
Project description:BackgroundSuboptimal adolescent human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination rates have been attributed to parental perceptions of the HPV vaccine. The internet has been cited as a setting where misinformation and controversy about HPV vaccination have been amplified.ObjectiveWe aimed to test message effectiveness in changing parents' attitudes and behavioral intentions toward HPV vaccination.MethodsWe conducted a web-based message-testing experiment with 6 control messages and 25 experimental messages and 5 from each of the 5 salient themes about HPV vaccination (theme 1: safety, side effects, risk, and ingredient concerns and long-term or major adverse events; theme 2: distrust of the health care system; theme 3: HPV vaccine effectiveness concerns; theme 4: connection to sexual activity; and theme 5: misinformation about HPV or HPV vaccine). Themes were identified from previous web-based focus group research with parents, and specific messages were developed by the study team using content from credible scientific sources. Through an iterative process of message development, the messages were crafted to be appropriate for presentation on a social media platform. Among the 1713 participants recruited via social media and crowdsourcing sites, 1043 eligible parents completed a pretest survey questionnaire. Participants were then randomly assigned to 1 of the 31 messages and asked to complete a posttest survey questionnaire that assessed attitudes toward the vaccine and perceived effectiveness of the viewed message. A subgroup of participants (189/995, 19%) with unvaccinated children aged 9 to 14 years was also assessed for their behavioral intention to vaccinate their children against HPV.ResultsParents in the experimental group had increased positive attitudes toward HPV vaccination compared with those in the control group (t969=3.03, P=.003), which was associated with increased intention to vaccinate among parents of unvaccinated children aged 9 to 14 years (r=1.14, P=.05). At the thematic level, we identified 4 themes (themes 2-5) that were relatively effective in increasing behavioral intentions by positively influencing attitudes toward the HPV vaccine (χ25=5.97, P=.31, root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA]=0.014, comparative fit index [CFI]=0.91, standardized root mean square residual [SRMR]=0.031). On the message level, messages that provided scientific evidence from government-related sources (eg, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and corrected misinformation (eg, "vaccines like the HPV vaccine are simply a way for pharmaceutical companies to make money. That isn't true") were effective in forming positive perceptions toward the HPV vaccination messages.ConclusionsEvidence-based messages directly countering misinformation and promoting HPV vaccination in social media environments can positively influence parents' attitudes and behavioral intentions to vaccinate their children against HPV.
Project description:BackgroundSignificant others are noted to be remarkable influences in modelling children's and young people's health perceptions and their adoption of health behaviour. The vaccinations which a child receives are shown to be significantly influenced by his or her parents. However, there is a paucity of Chinese-based studies. When discussing the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, very few studies examine the perceptions of Chinese parents regarding the vaccine as a preventive health measure, and even fewer examine how these perceptions of the vaccine and sexual values influence their motivations in encouraging their children to be vaccinated. In view of the literature gap, this article investigates the perceptions of Hong Kong mothers in regard to vaccinating their daughters against HPV in Hong Kong.MethodsA qualitative research approach with individual semi-structured interviews was conducted with 35 mothers aged 30 to 60 years old with daughter(s) between 9 and 17 years old.ResultsSix connected themes emerged. The participants commonly perceived the HPV vaccination as being unnecessary for their daughters in view of their young age. They worried that it would encourage their daughters to engage in premarital sex, and perceived the vaccination to be potentially harmful to health. Also, their low perceived risk of HPV in addition to the lack of reassurance from their health care providers failed to convince the participants that the vaccination was important for their daughters' health. Finally, the participants found the vaccine to be expensive and perceived it to have little protection value in comparison to other optional vaccines.ConclusionThe sampled mothers did not have a positive perception of the HPV vaccine. The cultural association between receiving the vaccination and premarital sex was prevalent. Bounded by their cultural values, the participants also had many misconceptions regarding the vaccine and the transmission of HPV, which discouraged them from having their daughters vaccinated. Furthermore, a lack of support from health care providers and the government health authorities concerning HPV vaccination failed to provide confidence and reassurance to mothers, and conveyed a meaning to these mothers that HPV vaccine is relatively unimportant.
Project description:The aim of this study is to examine knowledge and attitude as facilitators and barriers to the acceptance of HPV vaccination for adolescent girls by mothers and adolescent girls.A cross-sectional survey conducted in Hong Kong in January 2010. Adolescent girls aged 12-18, together with their mothers, were recruited to complete two separate questionnaires with similar questions.A total of 170 mother-adolescent girl dyads were recruited. When the daughters and mothers were compared, the mothers were found to be more aware of "the risk of becoming infected with HPV through early sexual intercourse," while more daughters than mothers knew that "the HPV virus cannot be cured with antibiotics." Significantly more daughters perceived that they had a "chance of being infected with HPV and getting cervical cancer without the vaccine," while more mothers were concerned that "vaccinating for HPV will cause a girl to be stigmatized as promiscuous" and thought that their "adolescent daughters are too young to receive the HPV vaccine." The major predictive factor for the acceptance of the HPV vaccine among mothers was "The HPV vaccine is safe" (OR = 10.126, 95% CI 2.47-41.54). Among daughters who accepted the vaccine, the predictive factor was "The HPV vaccine can prevent most HPV infections" (OR = 6.274, 95% CI 1.93-20.42).The findings provide healthcare professionals with a better understanding of the differences between mothers and adolescent girls in knowledge, attitude, and potential factors associated with acceptance of the HPV vaccine. Health professionals should promote the early prevention of HPV infection and eliminate the stigma surrounding HPV vaccination to increase its acceptance. The government should provide financial support for adolescent girls to receive the vaccination in school.
Project description:Annual reproductive success and senescence patterns vary substantially among individuals in the wild. However, it is still seldom considered that senescence may not only affect an individual but also affect age-specific reproductive success in its offspring, generating transgenerational reproductive senescence. We used long-term data from wild yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventer) living in two different elevational environments to quantify age-specific reproductive success of daughters born to mothers differing in age. Contrary to prediction, daughters born to older mothers had greater annual reproductive success on average than daughters born to younger mothers, and this translated into greater lifetime reproductive success. However, in the favorable lower elevation environment, daughters born to older mothers also had greater age-specific decreases in annual reproductive success. In the harsher higher elevation environment on the other hand, daughters born to older mothers tended to die before reaching ages at which such senescent decreases could be observed. Our study highlights the importance of incorporating environment-specific transgenerational parent age effects on adult offspring age-specific life-history traits to fully understand the substantial variation observed in senescence patterns in wild populations.
Project description:The 2006 US FDA approval of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine brought new hope for cancer prevention. Gardasil and Cervarix are widely available vaccines that can deter HPV infection, which causes 70% of cervical cancer. Acceptance of vaccination varies due to a lack of HPV awareness and HPV vaccine knowledge. Recent observations of the Chinese microblog "SinaWeibo" suggest a new approach to engage health professionals and consumer website bloggers. Websites that present the latest fashion, fitness or beauty news and ways to obtain "deals" have created informative blogs or online communities that appeal to female users. Some users raise health questions of their peers. Health professionals, as website bloggers, can introduce vaccine news or respond to conversations between bloggers and their followers. By transforming medical vocabulary into ordinary chat, microblogs may promote efficiency in vaccine education and communication. A web-based, interactive social media-microblog could offer an ideal platform to speed up information dissemination and increase targeted communication.
Project description:Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the second most common cause of cancer worldwide among females. HPV vaccination is highly protective against HPV infection and can reduce 56% of HPV infections. Therefore, the study aims to assess mothers' intention to vaccinate their daughters aged 9-14 years old against human papillomavirus in Debre Tabor town, Northwest Ethiopia, using the theory of planned behavior. A community-based cross-sectional study design was employed using the theory of planned behavior from November 1 to 30, 2022, in Northwest Ethiopia. A total sample of 449 study participants was enrolled. The study participants were selected using a multi-stage random sampling technique. Data was collected using an interview-administered questionnaire. The data was entered into EPI data version 4.6 and then, exported to SPSS version 23 for analysis. Those variables with a p-value <.05 with 95% CI were considered significant predictors. Mothers' positive intention to vaccinate their daughters aged 9-14 years against HPV was 67.5%. Attitude, perceived behavioral control, and subjective norm were significant predictors with (AOR = 10.09, 95% CI = 6.23-16.32), (AOR = 4.12, 95% CI = 2.71-6.26), and (AOR = 16.397, 95% CI = 9.69-27.748), respectively. Only two-thirds of mothers have a positive intention to vaccinate their daughters against human papillomavirus. Attitude, perceived behavioral control, and subjective norm were predictors. Therefore, it is better to do community mobilization toward the advantage of HPV vaccination.