Psychological antecedents of vaccination: definitions, measurement, and interventions

Abstract

Vaccinations are among the safest and most effective ways to prevent morbidity and mortality from severe infectious diseases - both on an individual and societal level. Despite the availability of safe and effective vaccines some people decide against vaccination, which leads to recurrent outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases. In order to achieve the common goals of eliminating certain infectious diseases and to protect individual health, it is necessary to understand the antecedents of (non-)vaccination.The 5C model describes five relevant psychological antecedents of vaccination: confidence, complacency (risk perceptions), constraints (barriers), calculation (extent of information search), and collective responsibility (willingness to protect the community). This contribution provides an overview of how these antecedents can be measured on an individual level and how interventions should be designed and evaluated to address the respective antecedents.Data from Germany show that structural changes to reduce practical barriers are important to improve vaccine uptake. Thus, it is also important to address aspects beyond confidence.