Passport to Promiscuity or Lifesaver: Press Coverage of HPV Vaccination and Risky Sexual Behavior

Abstract

A significant minority of parents are concerned about adolescents engaging in risky sexual behavior following human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination. The way the HPV vaccine is reported in the media has the potential to influence public understanding and vaccination decisions. The present study examined the content of articles published between 2003 and 2008 in British national newspapers that addressed the issue of adolescents engaging in risky sexual behavior following HPV vaccination. We used mixed methods to analyze 92 articles in which the issue was mentioned. Qualitative framework analysis highlighted three main types of discussion: news stories proposing that adolescents will engage in risky sexual behavior following HPV vaccination, counterarguments insisting that adolescents will not engage in risky sexual behavior after HPV vaccination, and parents' views of the issue of risky sexual behavior. The results indicated that newspapers provide parents with broadly positive descriptive norms about vaccination; however, the issue that adolescents will engage in risky sexual behaviors following HPV vaccination is regularly discussed in the national press and has the potential to increase parents' concerns about vaccination.

Two of the authors (Jane Wardle and Jo Waller) are supported by Cancer Research UK, Alice Forster is supported by a UCL Medical School studentship, and Judith Stephenson is employed by University College London. We have also received funding or honoraria from Sanofi Pasteur MSD and GSK Biologicals, both of whom manufacture HPV vaccines.

Notes

¹Adolescents also may play a role in deciding to participate in the HPV immunization program. Individuals under the age of 16 in England and Wales have the legal right to confidential health care without parental consent if they are considered competent to understand the information given to them, including the risks and alternatives, and make a balanced decision, sometimes termed “Gillick competence” (Gillick v West Norfolk and Wisbech Area Health Authority and Department of Health and Social Security, 1983). Also, a significant proportion of parents report that their consent to their daughter's participation in the program will be based on a joint parent–daughter decision (Brabin, Roberts, & Kitchener, 2007).