The relationship between the attitudes of parents who do not vaccinate their children towards childhood vaccinations and vaccine hesitancy and vaccine resistance

Aim: This study was conducted to determine the relationship between the attitudes of parents who do not vaccinate their children toward childhood vaccinations and vaccine hesitancy and vaccine opposition. Material and Method: The study was a descriptive correlational study conducted between July 1, 2024, and May 1, 2025, on parents who did not have their children vaccinated and who applied to the Children's Polyclinic of Of State Hospital in Trabzon Province. The study population consisted of parents who did not have their children vaccinated at the pediatric outpatient clinic, and the sample included 214 parents who met the study criteria. The data for the study were collected using the "Parent Information Form," the "Parental Attitudes Toward Childhood Vaccinations Scale," the "Vaccine Hesitancy Scale," and the "Vaccine Opposition Scale". The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, the Mann-Whitney U test, the Kruskal-Wallis H test, the Dunn test, Spearman's rho correlation test, and robust regression analysis. Results: In the study, the mean score on the parental attitude scale was 17.59 ± 1.51, the mean score on the vaccine hesitancy scale was 17.34 ± 3.2, and the mean score on the vaccine opposition scale was 78.92 ± 4.10. A positive correlation was found between the total score on the parental attitude scale and the subscale of the vaccine opposition scale measuring solutions for not getting vaccinated (p<0.05). A positive correlation was found between the total score on the vaccine hesitancy scale and the vaccine benefits and protective subscale of the vaccine opposition scale, and a negative correlation was found between the vaccine opposition and vaccine hesitancy justification subscale (p<0.05). A negative relationship was found between the total score on the vaccine opposition scale and the risks subscale of the vaccine hesitancy scale (p<0.05). Conclusions: The study found that parents who did not vaccinate their children had moderate attitudes toward childhood vaccinations and moderate vaccine hesitancy, but high levels of vaccine opposition. As parents' hesitancy toward childhood vaccinations increased, they developed solutions to avoid vaccination. As hesitancy increased, perceptions of the benefits and protective effects of vaccines decreased, and the legitimization of vaccine opposition and hesitancy increased. It was found that as parents' vaccine opposition increases, their perception of risks associated with vaccines decreases. Keywords: Vaccine attitude, vaccine hesitancy, vaccine resistance, parent, nursing