Who Australasians trusted during COVID-19: lessons from the pandemic response | 2023
August, R. Barrett-Young, A. Guiney, H. Hogan, S. Ramrakha, ... Show all » S. Poulton, R. « Hide
The New Zealand Medical Journal, 2023, 136(1587), 85-97.
10.26635/6965.6359
Our ref: NZ103
Show abstract » AIM: Public trust in authoritative information sources is a key element of a successful public health response to a pandemic. This study investigated which sources of COVID-19 advice were most trusted by a primarily New Zealand-based cohort and considers implications for policy and practice regarding future pandemics. METHOD: Data were from a COVID-19 vaccine intention survey presented to Australia- and New Zealand-based members of the longitudinal Dunedin Study (n=832) between ages 48 and 49, immediately before vaccines became available for the general population within New Zealand. We assessed participants' trust in specific sources of COVID-19 advice and investigated whether the pattern of responses differed by sex, socio-economic status (SES) or education. RESULTS: Doctors and healthcare providers were the most trusted source of COVID-19 advice, over and above other institutional sources. This pattern was consistent across sex, SES and education. Institutional experts were trusted significantly more by those with higher SES compared to those with lower SES, and by those with formal qualifications compared to those without formal qualifications. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that it is important to empower healthcare providers early in a pandemic to share advice with the public alongside other trusted sources, such as the government.
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Deep-seated psychological histories of COVID-19 vaccine hesitance and resistance | 2022
Terrie E. Moffitt, Avshalom Caspi, Antony Ambler, Kyle Bourassa , HonaLee Harrington, ... Show all » Sean Hogan, Renate Houts, Sandhya Ramrakha, Stacy L. Wood, Richie Poulton. « Hide
PNAS Nexus, 2022, .
https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgac034
Our ref: RO775
Show abstract » To design effective pro-vaccination messaging, it is important to know ―where people are coming from‖—the personal experiences and long-standing values, motives, lifestyles, preferences, emotional tendencies, and information-processing capacities of people who end up resistant or hesitant toward vaccination. We used prospective data from a 5-decade cohort study spanning childhood to midlife to construct comprehensive early-life psychological histories of groups who differed in their vaccine intentions in months just before COVID vaccines became available in their country. Vaccine-resistant and vaccine-hesitant participants had histories of adverse childhood experiences that foster mistrust, longstanding mental-health problems that foster misinterpretation of messaging, and early-emerging personality traits including tendencies toward extreme negative emotions, shutting down mentally under stress, nonconformism, and fatalism about health. Many vaccine-resistant and -hesitant participants had cognitive difficulties in comprehending health information. Findings held after control for socioeconomic origins. Vaccine intentions are not short-term isolated misunderstandings. They are part of a person's style of interpreting information and making decisions that is laid down before secondary school age. Findings suggest ways to tailor vaccine messaging for hesitant and resistant groups. To prepare for future pandemics, education about viruses and vaccines before or during secondary schooling could reduce citizens‘ level of uncertainty during a pandemic, and provide people with pre-existing knowledge frameworks that prevent extreme emotional distress reactions and enhance receptivity to health messages. Enhanced medical technology and economic resilience are important for pandemic preparedness, but a prepared public who understands the need to mask, social distance, and vaccinate will also be important.
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