Measuring COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among college students with disabilities: Sociodemographic and psychological correlates of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of the study was to explore characteristics of vaccine hesitancy and behaviors among college students with disabilities. Participants and Methods: Participants consisted of 105 college students with disabilities (M_age=26.82, SD = 8.42), and a majority of participants were female (69.5%) and Hispanic (85%). Results: No demographic differences were observed in vaccine hesitancy scores in this sample. Those who do not know where to get reliable information about COVID-19 vaccination had higher scores on vaccine hesitancy than those who know how to obtain reliable information; and participants who had a negative experience with a previous vaccination also had higher scores of vaccine hesitancy. Additionally, findings demonstrated COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy scores were negatively associated with openness to experience personality trait and COVID-19-related perceived stress. Conclusions: Implications provide additional insight into factors associated with vaccine hesitancy among college students with disabilities.

Keywords:

• College students
• COVID-19
• disabilities
• public health
• vaccine hesitancy

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of the United States of America and received approval from the University of Texas at El Paso.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the College of Health Sciences of the University of Texas at El Paso.