Tailored Intervention for Parents to Promote their Adolescents’ Vaccination against HPV

Abstract

We conducted a pilot study to examine the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effects of a computer-tailored intervention for parents to promote their adolescents’ HPV vaccination.  Among 29 parents recruited from clinics (n = 24; 83%) and the community (21%) who completed intervention and pre- and post-intervention assessments, all (100%) intended to vaccinate their adolescents aged 11-17 after the intervention. Furthermore, all parents recruited from the clinics consented to their adolescents receiving the first HPV vaccine, except for one parent who wanted to wait until the child turned 13 years old. Regarding the theoretical mediators, results of Wilcoxon Signed Ranks test suggested significant positive changes in HPV-related knowledge and facilitators over time. Nearly all (97%) of the parents reported that the intervention helped them make a decision about their child’s HPV vaccination and was a good way for the parents to learn about HPV and the vaccines. All parents stated that they would recommend this intervention to other parents who had unvaccinated adolescents.