Abstract:
Purpose: We assessed the relationship between HPV vaccination status of adolescent girls and parents’ anticipated regret in the event that daughters were: 1) unvaccinated and contracted an HPV infection that could lead to cervical cancer; 2) unvaccinated and contracted genital warts; and 3) vaccinated and initiated sexual activity at an early age. Methods: Parents (n=229) with 11–15 year old daughters participated in this prospective study through 18 schools in Auckland, New Zealand. Participants chose to complete the research questionnaire online (n=121), or request a hardcopy by mail. We compared parents who did not intend to vaccinate daughters within 12 months (n=72) to parents who intended to do so (n=87), and to parents whose daughters had initiated HPV vaccination (n=63). The three regret variables were assessed on a four-point ordinal scale and modeled separately as main independent variables using multinomial logistic regression, which adjusted for girls’ age and socio-economic status of students in participating schools. Results and Conclusion: Compared to parents with no intention to vaccinate daughters within 12 months, parents who intended to do so reported greater levels of regret in the event that daughters were unvaccinated and developed cervical cancer (OR=3.75; 95% CI=2.24–6.26), or contracted genital warts (OR=3.71; 95% CI=2.26–6.09). Furthermore, parents whose daughters had initiated vaccination reported significantly higher levels of regret in the event that daughters were unvaccinated and developed cervical cancer (OR=6.22; 95% CI=2.83–13.70), or contracted genital warts (OR=4.81; 95% CI=2.56– 9.04). However, parental regret if vaccinated daughters had early sexual activity was unrelated to HPV vaccination status. We conclude that parents who presently support HPV vaccination are highly motivated by inaction regret.