Vaccine refusal ‘due to trauma in childhood’

RELUCTANCE OR refusal to have a Covid-19 vaccine may be linked to traumatic events in childhood, such as neglect, domestic violence or alcoholism, new research suggests.

People who suffer in childhood are also least likely to trust NHS information, wear masks during the pandemic or follow the rules, a team of experts found.

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) include neglect, mistreatment (such as physical, psychological or sexual) and growing up in a household affected by domestic violence, substance or alcohol abuse and other criminal justice problems.

Parents separating or divorcing, abandonment, or having a parent with a mental health condition are other examples of ACEs.

The new study, published in the open access journal BMJ Open, involved surveying 2,285 people aged 18 and over in Wales during lockdown restrictions.

Experts looked at nine different types of ACE as well as low trust in NHS Covid-19 information, whether people backed the removal of social distancing and mandatory face coverings, breaking Covid rules and vaccine hesitancy.

While 52 per cent of those in the study had not experienced any childhood trauma, around one in five had suffered one type, around one in six reported two to three, and one in 10 reported four or more.

The results showed that the more trauma people had experienced in childhood, the more likely they were to mistrust NHS Covid-19 information. They were also likely to feel unfairly restricted by the Government and to support the end of mandatory face masks.

People were twice as likely to break Covid rules if they had four or more ACEs, while vaccine hesitancy was threefold higher.