key: cord-0070291-id75insg
authors: Reid, Rachel Maria; Vir-Leah Williams, Alexandria; Bayer, Carey Roth
title: Responding to Youth Opinions on Vaccination with Better Interventions
date: 2021-11-19
journal: J Adolesc Health
DOI: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2021.08.008
sha: 0e53223b2f099d7ab6c932fb023dc9df4c6caed2
doc_id: 70291
cord_uid: id75insg

nan

To the Editors:

We read with interest the study of Brandt et al. [1] concerning youth perspectives on COVID-19 vaccination. The authors' use of open-ended questions and qualitative analyses gleaned important information to guide health messaging to enhance vaccine uptake among youth 14e24 years of age. Further discussion of the following is needed:

1. Data collection: Despite limits in reaching youth without phones, a texting and social media strategy was a powerful tool to reach this population. Given the variety of social media used by youth, it would help to include details on which platforms were used, frequency of message distribution, and possible incentives in recruitment. Discussion is also needed on potential sample bias in strong opinions on health and policy issues unique to the MyVoice audience. 2. Findings: The authors' attention to demographic analysis is essential in understanding diverse youth perspectives across the country. It is unclear why race was framed as the sole predictor for vaccine unwillingness in black participants who comprised 8.8% of the sample, but there were no predictions for the 64% of white participants. The intersectionality of race, age, sex, gender, sexual orientation, education, and geography must be considered as influences on health decision-making. For illustration, geographic descriptors could include urban, rural, suburban, and so on to help indicate differences in health departments, COVID-19 regulations, and regional attitudes. In addition, Stroud et al [2] emphasized the need to distinguish differences in needs, influences, and intervention planning owing to distinctions between pediatric and young adult populations. Parental influence alone greatly varies between the ages of 14-24 years, so authors should note the impact of outside influences on both youth opinions and subsequent actions. It is imperative to tailor future campaigns with mindfulness of vaccination services, cultural influences, youth intersectionality, and developmental changes between ages 14 and 24 years. Studies indicate youth benefit from interventions focused on empowering respect and status [3] . Combining these efforts with motivational interviewing is a key strategy to help youth successfully internalize behavioral changes [4] .

National Study of Youth Opinions on Vaccination for COVID-19 in the U.S

Investing in the health and wellbeing of young adults

Why Interventions to Influence Adolescent Behavior Often Fail but Could Succeed

Motivational Interviewing with Adolescents and Young Adults

Conflicts of interest: The author has no conflicts of interest to disclose. www.jahonline.org

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