Relationship between Vaccine Hesitancy and Psychological Distress in Elderly Population of South Punjab

Abstract

Vaccines have eliminated and prevented several deadly diseases, yet they face skepticism from the public. This research aimed to find the moderating role of optimism in elderly people on the relationship between vaccine skepticism of COVID-19 booster dose and the psychological distress because of it. The purpose of this research was to find out hesitant attitude of elders towards COVID-19 booster dose, explore level of psychological distress among elderly people who were already vaccinated and find out life optimism among elderly people (age range of 45-65 years, M=55.75, SD=6.51). Correlational research design and systematic random sampling technique were used to collect data from elders (n=427, M= 264, F=161). The data was collected from different cities of Punjab province namely Muzaffargarh, Lodhran, Multan, and Bahawalpur. Vaccine skepticism, psychological distress and optimism were checked using “Oxford COVID-19 Scale of Vaccine Hesitancy, Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K-10) and Revised Life Orientation Test (LOT-R). Data was analysed using Correlation, t test, and ANOVA. The results found a positive relationship between psychological distress and life orientation. On the other hand, vaccine hesitancy was found to be negatively correlated with psychological distress and life orientation. The males were found high on vaccine hesitancy and psychological distress. People above age 60 years had lowest psychological distress.