The Role of Social Support in Young Women's Communication About the Genital HPV Vaccine

Abstract

Understanding the function of social support in communication about women's sexual health topics is an important avenue of research for communication scholars. The goal of the present study was to examine the role of social support in young women's communication about receiving or not receiving the genital HPV vaccine, Gardasil. In 10 focus groups, 52 female participants between ages 18 and 24 revealed instances of informational, tangible, emotional, and experiential support from physicians, friends, and family.

Keywords:

• social support
• supportive communication
• women's sexual health

Acknowledgments

The data presented in this essay are part of a larger research project on women's experiences with HPV and Gardasil. We presented a paper on a different subset of the data in the Health Communication Division of the Eastern Communication Association in April 2010.