Abstract
While defaults may encourage some health behaviors, how defaults influence controversial behaviors is not well understood.
We examined the effect of two default policies on parents’ consent to have their adolescent sons hypothetically receive HPV
vaccine at school. A national sample of 404 parents of adolescent sons participated in an online 3 × 2 between-subjects factorial
experiment. Factors varied the default consent policy (opt-in, opt-out, or neutral) and the number of vaccines sons would
receive (HPV vaccine alone or along with two other recommended adolescent vaccines). Among parents wanting to get their sons
HPV vaccine in the next year, consent was higher in the opt-in condition (compared to the opt-out condition) or if other recommended
adolescent vaccines would be included. Default policies had no effect among parents undecided about HPV vaccination. Parents’
consent for school-located HPV vaccination may be higher when presented as an opt-in decision and other vaccines are included.
We examined the effect of two default policies on parents’ consent to have their adolescent sons hypothetically receive HPV
vaccine at school. A national sample of 404 parents of adolescent sons participated in an online 3 × 2 between-subjects factorial
experiment. Factors varied the default consent policy (opt-in, opt-out, or neutral) and the number of vaccines sons would
receive (HPV vaccine alone or along with two other recommended adolescent vaccines). Among parents wanting to get their sons
HPV vaccine in the next year, consent was higher in the opt-in condition (compared to the opt-out condition) or if other recommended
adolescent vaccines would be included. Default policies had no effect among parents undecided about HPV vaccination. Parents’
consent for school-located HPV vaccination may be higher when presented as an opt-in decision and other vaccines are included.
- Content Type Journal Article
- Pages 1-7
- DOI 10.1007/s10865-012-9397-1
- Authors
- Paul L. Reiter, Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Suite 525, 1590 North High Street, Columbus, OH 43201, USA
- Annie-Laurie McRee, Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
- Jessica K. Pepper, Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health, 325 Rosenau Hall, CB 7440, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7440, USA
- Noel T. Brewer, Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health, 325 Rosenau Hall, CB 7440, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7440, USA
- Journal Journal of Behavioral Medicine
- Online ISSN 1573-3521
- Print ISSN 0160-7715