Risk Exposures, Risk Perceptions, Negative Attitudes Toward General Vaccination, and COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance Among College Students in south Carolina

Purpose: The current study investigated how risk exposures, risk perceptions of COVID-19, and negative attitudes toward general vaccination were related to COVID vaccine acceptance among college students. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Data was collected by online survey using RedCap among college students in South Carolina between September 2020 and October 2020. Sample: 1062 college students in South Carolina. Measures: risk exposures to COVID-19, perceived severity of COVID-19, perceived susceptibility of COVID-19, negative attitude toward general vaccination, vaccine acceptance of COVID-19. Analysis: Hierarchical linear regression was used to examine the association of these factors with COVID-19 vaccine acceptance controlling for key demographics. Results: Perceived severity of COVID-19 was positively associated with vaccine acceptance (ss = 0.19, p < 0.001). Higher level of risk exposures (ss = -0.08, p = 0.007) and negative attitude toward general vaccination (ss = -0.38, p < 0.001) were associated with low vaccine acceptance. Conclusion: We need tailored education messages for college students to emphasize the severity of COVID-19, address the concerns of side effects of general vaccines by dispelling the misconception, and target the most vulnerable subgroups who reported high level of risk exposures while showed low intention to take the vaccine.

Automated summary

The study found that the perceived severity of COVID-19 among college students was positively associated with COVID-19 vaccine acceptance, while higher risk exposures and negative attitudes were related to low vaccine acceptance. Therefore, tailored education messages emphasizing the severity of COVID-19, addressing concerns about general vaccines, and targeting vulnerable subgroups with high risk exposures and low vaccine acceptance intention are needed.