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Experimental Psychology (Russia)
2025. Vol. 18, no. 3, 178–193
doi:10.17759/exppsy.2025180312
ISSN: 2072-7593 / 2311-7036 (online)

Adaptation of the Russian version of the Vaccination Attitudes Examination (VAX) Scale

 
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Abstract

Context and relevance. There is a lack of Russian-language methods for determining attitudes toward factors common to different types of vaccination. Objective. This article is focused on testing the psychometric properties of the translated Vaccination Attitudes Examination (VAX) Scale of L.R. Martin & K.J. Petrie. The scale includes subscales of mistrust of vaccine benefit, worries about unforeseen future effects, concerns about commercial profiteering, and preference for natural immunity. Methods and materials. The study was conducted in an online survey format; the sample was collected by gender-age quotas and totaled 400 individuals. To check the construct validity, we used a scale measuring attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccination and a questionnaire on conspiracy beliefs about vaccination. To check the criterion validity, behavioral indicators were used: voluntariness of COVID-19 vaccination and other diseases, experience of complications and worsening of well-being after COVID-19 vaccination, and planning for future COVID-19 vaccination. Results. The validity check yielded the expected correlations with the scales and indicators used. Internal consistency was 0.899. Conclusions. The Russian version of the VAX scale showed high internal consistency and a stable factor structure, its construct and criterion validity were confirmed.

General Information

Keywords: vaccination, attitudes towards vaccination, anti-vaccinationism, vaccination refusal, attitudes, COVID-19

Journal rubric: Psychodiagnostics

Article type: scientific article

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/exppsy.2025180312

Funding. The research is funded by Russian Science Foundation, project number 23-78-10035, https://rscf.ru/en/project/23-78-10035/.

Received 17.09.2024

Revised 31.01.2025

Accepted

Published

For citation: Syromiatnikova, A.Yu., Mararitsa, L.V., Artemenko, E.D. (2025). Adaptation of the Russian version of the Vaccination Attitudes Examination (VAX) Scale. Experimental Psychology (Russia), 18(3), 178–193. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.17759/exppsy.2025180312

© Syromiatnikova A.Yu., Mararitsa L.V., Artemenko E.D., 2025

License: CC BY-NC 4.0

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Information About the Authors

Aleksiia Y. Syromiatnikova, Research Intern, Laboratory for Social and Cognitive Informatics, National Research University Higher School of Economics, St.Petersburg, Russian Federation, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-0940-155X, e-mail: asyromyatnikova@hse.ru

Larisa V. Mararitsa, Candidate of Science (Psychology), Senior Research Fellow, Laboratory for Social and Cognitive Informatics, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Assistant Professor, Department of Social Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Saint Petersburg State University, St.Petersburg, Russian Federation, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3858-5369, e-mail: lmararicza@hse.ru

Elena D. Artemenko, Candidate of Science (Philology), Deputy Head, Laboratory for Social and Cognitive Informatics, National Research University Higher School of Economics, St.Petersburg, Russian Federation, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7610-0089, e-mail: edartemenko@hse.ru

Contribution of the authors

Aleksiia Iu. Syromiatnikova — conceptualization; methodology; investigation; data curation; formal analysis; visualization; writing — original draft.

Larisa V. Mararitsa — conceptualization; methodology; investigation; writing — review & editing.

Elena D. Artemenko — conceptualization; methodology; writing — review & editing.

All authors participated in the discussion of the results and approved the final text of the manuscript.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Ethics statement

The experimental study design was approved by the Ethics Committee of National Research University Higher School of Economics (сommittee report 2023/01/09).

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