Identifying Childhood Vaccine Misinformation on Social Media and the Internet: A Content Analysis

IDENTIFYING CHILDHOOD VACCINE MISINFORMATION ON SOCIAL MEDIA: A CONTENT ANALYSIS Patricia Lara Master of Nursing, Toronto Metropolitan University, 2023 With the evolution of social media and the internet in the past decade, parents experience significant challenges with identifying misinformation regarding childhood vaccines. Childhood vaccine information is a key factor that influences parents’ decision-making and can impact parental vaccine hesitancy. Online misinformation is concerning for public health leaders and healthcare providers entrusted with maintaining public confidence in vaccines. Using Elo and Kyngӓs (2008) content analysis, this study analyzed qualitative data collected from an online survey undertaken from September to October 2021. This study explores parents’ perceptions of misinformation regarding childhood vaccines and describes how parents identify such misinformation on social media and the internet. Findings of this study suggest that although parents employ different strategies to identify misinformation such as assessing the quality of information and of information sources, additional support and policies are needed to ensure that parents can efficiently and effectively identify misinformation on social media and the internet. Patricia Lara Master of Nursing, Toronto Metropolitan University, 2023