Who’s Skeptical of Vaccines? Prevalence and Determinants of Anti-Vaccination Attitudes in Italy
- Ceylan Engin, Cristiano Vezzoni
- Population Review
- Volume 59, Number 2, 2020
(Image: Susanna Manstretta)
This paper investigates negative attitudes toward vaccines in Italy, where anti-vaccination movements have gained significant momentum in recent years. Considering the substantial health risk to herd immunity the issue poses, particularly after the sudden outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, it has become increasingly urgent to study the prevalence and diffusion of anti-vaccination beliefs. Using data from the 2016 European Social Survey’s (ESS) country specific questions for Italy, the prevalence of anti-vaccination attitudes is examined along with how they are influenced by demographic, attitudinal and value-oriented determinants. The results show that 15 percent of the Italian public strictly hold negative views toward vaccination, and the prevalence of anti-vaccination attitudes is most commonly found among those who are less educated and aged between 25 and 34. While religiosity and political conservatism do not have an effect on anti-vaccination beliefs, our results indicate a strong positive link between anti-vaccination attitudes and distrust in the country’s health-care systems and political institutions.
Population Review
Volume 59, Number 2, 2020
Type: Article, pp. 156-179
Who’s Skeptical of Vaccines? Prevalence and Determinants of
Anti-Vaccination Attitudes in Italy
Authors: Ceylan Engin and Cristiano Vezzoni
Affiliations: Department of Sociology, Boğaziçi University, South Campus, Istanbul, Turkey (Engin); Department of Social and Political Sciences, University of Milan, Milano, Italy
Corresponding author/address: Ceylan Engin, Department of Sociology, Boğaziçi University
Boğaziçi University, South Campus, 34342 Bebek, Istanbul, Turkey; email: [email protected]
Abstract
This paper investigates negative attitudes toward vaccines in Italy, where anti-vaccination movements have gained significant momentum in recent years. Considering the substantial health risk to herd immunity the issue poses, particularly after the sudden outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, it has become increasingly urgent to study the prevalence and diffusion of anti-vaccination beliefs. Using data from the 2016 European Social Survey’s (ESS) country specific questions for Italy, the prevalence of anti-vaccination attitudes is examined along with how they are influenced by demographic, attitudinal and value-oriented determinants. The results show that 15 percent of the Italian public strictly hold negative views toward vaccination, and the prevalence of anti-vaccination attitudes is most commonly found among those who are less educated and aged between 25 and 34. While religiosity and political conservatism do not have an effect on anti-vaccination beliefs, our results indicate a strong positive link between anti-vaccination attitudes and distrust in the country’s health-care systems and political institutions.
Keywords
Italy, anti-vaccination attitudes, European Social Survey (ESS), Item Response Theory
© 2020 Sociological Demography Press
MLA
Engin, Ceylan and Cristiano Vezzoni. “Who’s Skeptical of Vaccines? Prevalence and Determinants of Anti-Vaccination Attitudes in Italy.” Population Review, vol. 59 no. 2, 2020. Project MUSE muse.jhu.edu/article/766975.
APA
Engin, C., & Vezzoni, C. (2020). Who’s Skeptical of Vaccines? Prevalence and Determinants of Anti-Vaccination Attitudes in Italy. Population Review 59(2), https://www.muse.jhu.edu/article/766975.
Chicago
Engin, Ceylan, and Cristiano Vezzoni. “Who’s Skeptical of Vaccines? Prevalence and Determinants of Anti-Vaccination Attitudes in Italy.” Population Review 59, no. 2 (2020) muse.jhu.edu/article/766975.
Endnote
TY – JOUR T1 – Who’s Skeptical of Vaccines? Prevalence and Determinants of Anti-Vaccination Attitudes in Italy A1 – Engin, Ceylan A1 – Vezzoni, Cristiano JF – Population Review VL – 59 IS – 2 PY – 2020 PB – Sociological Demography Press SN – 1549-0955 UR – https://muse.jhu.edu/article/766975 N1 – Volume 59, Number 2, 2020 ER –
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