Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 May 14;15(5):e100202.
doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2025-100202.

Exploring health locus of control among vaccine-hesitant parents: a scoping review

Camilla Elena Magi  1 , Emanuele Buccione  2 , Stefano Bambi  1 , Paolo Iovino  3 , Patrizio Zanobini  1 , Federica Cecchi  4 , Federica Maria De Blasi  4 , Loredana De Marchis  4 , Chiara Peduto  4 , Domenico Sinisi  4 , Antonia Maria Vanella  4 , Antonio Bonacaro  4 , Chiara Lorini  1 , Guglielmo Bonaccorsi  1 , Laura Rasero  1 , Khadija El Aoufy  1 , Yari Longobucco  1
Affiliations

Exploring health locus of control among vaccine-hesitant parents: a scoping review

Camilla Elena Magi et al. BMJ Open. .

Abstract

Objectives: This scoping review aimed to explore the relationship between health locus of control (HLOC) and vaccine hesitancy among parents of children aged 0-18 years, focusing on the tools and methods used to assess these constructs.

Design: The review followed Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews guidelines and adhered to established methodologies for scoping reviews, including systematic searches across four electronic databases.

Data sources: PubMed, PsycINFO, Web of Science and CINAHL were searched using a comprehensive search strategy to identify relevant studies on 24 September 2024.

Eligibility criteria for selecting studies: Studies were included if they examined HLOC and vaccine hesitancy in parents, measured these constructs with validated tools and focused on childhood vaccination.

Data extraction and synthesis: Data were extracted into a structured table capturing study characteristics, HLOC and vaccine hesitancy measurements, and key findings. Results were synthesised narratively to highlight associations and patterns.

Results: Five studies involving a total of 11 758 parents and caregivers of children aged 0-18 years met inclusion criteria. Higher internal HLOC was consistently associated with lower vaccine hesitancy and higher compliance, while lower chance HLOC correlated with greater hesitancy. Powerful others HLOC (ie, trust in healthcare professionals) emerged as a key predictor of better vaccine adherence.

Conclusions: The findings suggest that internal HLOC and trust in healthcare providers are predictors of vaccine acceptance among parents. However, standardised tools and longitudinal studies are needed to further elucidate these relationships and inform targeted interventions to reduce vaccine hesitancy.

Keywords: PUBLIC HEALTH; Parents; Vaccination.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. PRISMA flow diagram ScR. PRISMA, Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Montero DA, Vidal RM, Velasco J, et al. Two centuries of vaccination: historical and conceptual approach and future perspectives. Front Public Health. 2023;11:1326154. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1326154. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Shattock AJ, Johnson HC, Sim SY, et al. Contribution of vaccination to improved survival and health: modelling 50 years of the expanded programme on immunization. Lancet. 2024;403:2307–16. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(24)00850-X. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. MacDonald SE, Palichuk A, Slater L, et al. Gaps in knowledge about the vaccine coverage of immunocompromised children: a scoping review. Hum Vaccin Immunother. 2022;18:1–16. doi: 10.1080/21645515.2021.1935169. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. MacDonald NE, SAGE Working Group on Vaccine Hesitancy Vaccine hesitancy: definition, scope and determinants. Vaccine (Auckl) 2015;33:4161–4. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2015.04.036. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Santé O, World Health Organization Understanding the behavioural and social drivers of vaccine uptake WHO position paper–May 2022–Comprendre les facteurs comportementaux et sociaux de l’adoption des vaccins Note de synthèse de l’OMS–mai 2022. Wkly Epidemiol Rec. 2022:209–24.

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources