Parental Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Survey (PHPVS): Nurse-Led Instrument Development and Psychometric Testing for Use in Research and Primary Care Screening

The purpose of this article is to describe the development and results of the psychometric evaluation of the Parental HPV Survey (PHPVS). The PHPVS was developed in 2007 in response to the debut of the HPV vaccine and the controversy that followed. During the spring of 2007, nurses and other health care providers discussed with policy makers and public health officials which parents would or would not vaccinate their child or adolescent with the HPV vaccine. The PHPVS was developed and then psychometrically tested so researchers would have an instrument to use in health promotion research. The PHPVS instrument can assist health promotion researchers to explore and describe parental perceptions of HPV infection and vaccination by measuring the perceived severity of HPV infection, parental perceived vulnerability of their child to HPV infection, the perceived benefits of HPV vaccination, and the subsequent barriers to vaccinating their child with the HPV vaccine.