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. 2023 Dec;10(6):2944-2956.
doi: 10.1007/s40615-022-01471-8. Epub 2022 Nov 29.

Contextual Pathways Linking Cumulative Experiences of Racial Discrimination to Black American Men's COVID Vaccine Hesitancy

Michael G Curtis  1 , Christopher C Whalen  2 , Ivanka Pjesivac  3 , Steven M Kogan  4
Affiliations

Contextual Pathways Linking Cumulative Experiences of Racial Discrimination to Black American Men's COVID Vaccine Hesitancy

Michael G Curtis et al. J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2023 Dec.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed and widened racialized health disparities, underscoring the impact of structural inequities and racial discrimination on COVID-19 vaccination uptake. A sizable proportion of Black American men report that they either do not plan to or are unsure about becoming vaccinated against COVID-19. The present study investigated hypotheses regarding the mechanisms by which experiences of racial discrimination are associated with Black American men's COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling with 4 waves of data from 242 Black American men (aged ~ 27) living in resource-poor communities in the rural South. Study findings revealed that racial discrimination was indirectly associated with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy via increased endorsement of COVID-19 conspiratorial beliefs. Findings also demonstrated that increased levels of ethnic identity strengthen the association between experiences of racial discrimination and COVID-19 conspiratorial beliefs. In contrast, increased levels of social support weakened the association between cumulative experiences of racial discrimination and COVID conspiratorial beliefs. Taken together, these results suggest that racial discrimination may promote conspiratorial beliefs which undermine Black American men's willingness to be vaccinated. Future interventions aimed towards promoting vaccine uptake among Black American men may benefit from the inclusion of targeted efforts to rebuild cultural trust and increase social support.

Keywords: Black American; COVID; COVID conspiratorial beliefs; Ethnic identity; Racial discrimination; Vaccine hesitancy.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Summarized hypotheses
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Standardized results of mediation model linking cumulative racial discrimination to COVID vaccine hesitancy among Black American men
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Interaction of ethnic identity and racial discrimination on COVID conspiracy beliefs
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Johnson-Neyman plot for the interaction of ethnic identity and racial discrimination on COVID conspiracy beliefs. Note: Bold line represents the conditional effect of racial discrimination on COVID conspiracy beliefs with dashed lines identifying 95% confidence intervals of the effect
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Interaction of perceived social support and racial discrimination on COVID conspiracy beliefs
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Johnson-Neyman plot for the interaction of perceived social support and racial discrimination on COVID conspiracy beliefs. Note: Bold line represents the conditional effect of racial discrimination on COVID conspiracy beliefs with dashed lines identifying 95% confidence intervals of the effect
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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