Motivation for HPV Vaccination Among Young Adult Men: Validation of TTM Decisional Balance and Self-Efficacy Constructs.

Purpose . In the United States, 36% of human papillomavirus (HPV)-related cancers occur among men. HPV vaccination can substantially reduce the risk of HPV infection; however, the vast majority of men are unvaccinated. This study developed and validated transtheoretical model-based measures for HPV vaccination in young adult men. Design . Cross-sectional measurement development. Setting . Online survey of young adult men. Subjects . Three hundred twenty-nine mostly college-attending men, ages 18 to 26. Measures . Stage of change, decisional balance (pros/cons), and self-efficacy. Analysis . The sample was randomly split into halves for exploratory principal components analysis (PCA), followed by confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) to test measurement models. Multivariate analyses examined relationships between scales. Results . For decisional balance, PCA revealed two uncorrelated five-item factors (pros α = .78; cons α = .83). For the self-efficacy scale, PCA revealed a single-factor solution (α = .83). CFA confirmed that the two-factor uncorrelated model for decisional balance and a single-factor model for self-efficacy. Follow-up analyses of variance supported the theoretically predicted relationships between stage of change, pros, and self-efficacy. Conclusion . This study resulted in reliable and valid measures of pros and self-efficacy for HPV vaccination that can be used in future clinical research.