Factors Associated With Parental Observation of Side Effects Following the Child Flu Vaccine
Factors Associated With Parental Observation of Side Effects Following the Child Flu Vaccine
This study investigates whether there are psychological predictors of parental perception of
 side-effects following vaccination with the child flu vaccine. We will also investigate
 whether the perception of side-effects affects parents' intention to vaccinate their child
 again in the following flu season, as well as whether there are underlying differences in
 parents' cognitive biases between those who do and do not re-vaccinate their child.
In 2012, the British Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recommended that
 the influenza vaccination programme be extended to include children aged 2 to 16. In the
 three flu seasons in which the child flu immunisation programme has been running (2013-14,
 2014-15, 2015-16), uptake rates have been low (approximately 40%). Multiple factors are
 likely to underlie the poor uptake, including thinking the vaccine was unsafe and ineffective
 and having experienced side-effects related to the vaccine previously.

 Although symptoms are commonly reported following vaccinations, their causes are not always
 straightforward. Although a minority may be directly attributable to the vaccine itself,
 others may reflect pre-existing or coincidental symptoms that are misattributed to the
 vaccine. Following vaccination, an expectation that the vaccine causes side-effects may also
 contribute to parents detecting symptoms in their child that might otherwise have gone
 unnoticed. Perception of side-effects may also influence the parent's decision to vaccinate
 their child again in following years.

 Other possible factors influencing parents' perception of side-effects and their willingness
 to vaccinate their child again are their personal health beliefs and their interpretations of
 the information they are given about vaccination and side-effects. These cognitive processes
 can be measured objectively using experimental tasks, and can reveal characteristic patterns,
 or 'cognitive biases' which govern behaviour.
Inclusion Criteria:

 -  Parents of guardians of children aged 2-4 on 31st August 2016 (i.e. born September 1st
 2011 to August 31st 2014) who receive the flu vaccine at the GP

 -  Parents must be aged 18 or over

 -  Parents must be fluent in English

 Exclusion Criteria:

 -