Racial disparities between Latina and non-Latina White women in factors associated with HPV vaccination

The purpose of this research was to examine social and behavioral factors that contribute to the racial disparity in prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) and risk for cervical cancer. HPV is the most common STI in the United States and Latina women are at a disproportionate risk of HPV and cervical cancer relative to other racial/ethnic groups. Research on the prevalence and predictors of HPV vaccination is emerging, but often conducted without a focus on the Latina population. For example, Roberts et al., (Roberts, Gerrard, Reimer, & Gibbons, in press) examined 972 predominately white college females to examine factors associated vaccination. Results revealed that mother's approval of HPV vaccination, mother-daughter communication about sex, and daughter's perceptions of vulnerability to HPV were positively associated with vaccination. The current reserch used an ethnically and socioeconomically diverse community sample to expand this previous research, by examining how socio-cultural factors may differentially affect vaccination behaviors of Whites and Latinas. Three-hundred-twelve Latina and White (N = 150) women (aged 15-30) participated in a cross-sectional survey study. Results revealed that HPV knowledge, descriptive norms, and injunctive norms predicted vaccination status among all participants. Significant interactions with race emerged, such that Latinas with greater levels of religiosity, greater levels of mother-daughter communication about values, and lower levels of descriptive norms had lower probabilities of having received the HPV vaccine. Results suggest that cultural factors such as religiosity, norms, and mother-daughter communication may affect vaccination behavior among Latinas differently than among Whites.