Factors associated with parents’ hesitancy to vaccinate their children against COVID-19: The moderator role of parental anxiety

The aim of this study was to examine the factors that influenced parental hesitancy toward vaccinating children against COVID-19 in the months leading up to the launch of the pediatric vaccination campaign. We examined whether parental anxiety moderated the relationships between parents' access to vaccine information, choice overload, perceived freedom of choice, mistrust toward authorities, and hesitancy toward vaccinating children against COVID-19. A sample of 440 Canadian parents of children aged 1-16 years completed questionnaires. Results revealed that having less access to information and perceiving greater freedom in decision-making increased hesitancy among parents, especially when they reported experiencing anxiety in their parental role. Mistrust of authorities and choice overload were linked to greater hesitancy about vaccination. However, these links were not moderated by the reported parental anxiety. Considering that there will likely be more pandemics in the future, our study has pertinent implications for the healthcare community.