DOI

https://doi.org/10.25772/8ZJJ-KM28

Defense Date

2022

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Health Psychology

First Advisor

Eric Benotsch

Abstract

As of March 11th 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. Early studies conducted among LGBT+ communities indicated that individuals of color and transgender individuals were more likely to express hesitation towards a possible COVID-19 vaccine. Such hesitation can be explained by historical medical mistreatment of people of color and LGBT+ communities which contributes to higher medical mistrust within these populations. The present study assessed vaccination behaviors among a sample of transgender and gender diverse individuals (N=385) and results indicated an association amongst experiences of discrimination in healthcare, medical mistrust, COVID-19 mistrust, barriers to vaccination, and having not receive a booster at the time of the study. Although race did not significantly contribute to any findings, binary gender predicted a delay in initial vaccination and having not received a booster at the time of the study. Participants who engaged in telehealth had lower vaccine hesitancy, lower COVID-19 mistrust, and lower perceived barrier to vaccination compared to participants who did not utilize telehealth during the pandemic. These results provide support for previous findings regarding TGD health, discrimination, and mistrust and contribute novel findings to the role of these factors when assessing COVID-19 vaccination behaviors amidst the ongoing pandemic.

Rights

© The Author

Is Part Of

VCU University Archives

Is Part Of

VCU Theses and Dissertations

Date of Submission

8-26-2022

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