Ethnic Differences in Predictors of HPV Vaccination: Comparisons of Predictors for Latina and Non-Latina White Women

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine how social and behavioral factors such as age of first intercourse, mother–daughter communication, and perceived norms are associated with human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination behaviors, and whether ethnicity moderates those associations (non-Latina White versus Latina participants). From June through December 2009, we surveyed a community sample of 309 White and Latina women, ages 15 to 30. We recruited participants from local health care clinics in Des Moines, Iowa. Vaccination status was not significantly different for Whites versus Latinas. The effects of age at first intercourse, mother–daughter communication about values related to sex, and descriptive norms of HPV vaccine uptake were all significantly moderated by ethnicity. The current findings reveal that sociocultural and behavioral factors that affect HPV vaccine uptake do not affect White and Latina women in the same fashion. In the future, public health campaigns about HPV and the HPV vaccine may be more effective if their messages are sensitive to these differences.

Acknowledgments

This study was funded by an Iowa Osteopathic Education and Research Grant from Des Moines University.

Notes

Note. Unadjusted percentages reported for vaccination. Adjusted means (SD). Ns differ due to missing data. ANCOVAs examining mean ethnicity differences were conducted, including age and insurance coverage as covariates.

^a Whites reported significantly higher knowledge than Latinas when controlling for education level, p < .001.

***p < .001. **p < .01. *p <.05. †p ≤ .10.