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177 Contextual Pathways Linking Racial Discrimination to Rural Black American Mens COVID Vaccine Hesitancy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 April 2022

Michael Curtis
Affiliation:
University of Georgia
Steven M Kogan
Affiliation:
University of Georgia
Christopher C Whalen
Affiliation:
University of Georgia
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Abstract

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OBJECTIVES/GOALS: The present study investigated contextual factors linking rural Black American mens experiences of racial discrimination to their COVID vaccine hesitancy. Specifically, we investigated two potential mediators of the link between racial discrimination and COVID vaccine hesitancy: (1) medical mistrust, and (2) COVID conspiratorial beliefs. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling with 7 waves of data from 504 Black American men participating in a longitudinal study of risk behavior and substance use during young adulthood. At baseline, mens mean age was ~20. Data were collected before and during the COVID pandemic. The COVID pandemic began after Wave 4 data had been collected. A series of 3 online surveys, at 3-month intervals, were conducted to examine acute COVID-related stressors and impacts. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: The dual mediation model fit the data as follows: χ2(7) = 19.00, p < .008; χ2/ df = 2.71; RMSEA = 0.06; CFI = 0.95; SRMR= 0.04. Results indicated that racial discrimination was directly associated with increases in COVID conspiratorial beliefs (B = .14, p<.05) and medical mistrust (B = .22, p<.001). COVID conspiratorial beliefs was directly associated with increases in COVID vaccine hesitancy (B = .11, p<.05). Indirect effects were detected whereby racial discrimination was associated with increases COVID vaccine hesitancy indirectly via increases in COVID conspiratorial beliefs (B = 0.016; 95% CI [0.001, 0.048]). DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Investigating race-related factors in the context of vaccine hesitancy is a novel area of inquiry that could facilitate the development of targeted interventions for Black Americans to increase their vaccine uptake. Future research is needed to more thoroughly examine the relationship between racial discrimination and conspiratorial beliefs.

Type
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. The Association for Clinical and Translational Science