Associations Between Self-Compassion and Behavioural Intention to Receive Seasonal Influenza, Pneumococcal and Respiratory Syncytial Virus Vaccination Among Community-Living Older Adults in Western China: A Population-Based Cross-Sectional Survey.

Background

Self-compassion is the practice of treating oneself with kindness and understanding during times of hardship. There is a lack of studies investigating the associations between self-compassion and vaccination behaviors. This study investigated the associations between self-compassion and behavioral intention to receive seasonal influenza vaccination (SIV), pneumococcal vaccination (PV), and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccination among community-living older adults in Western China.

Methods

A cross-sectional survey was conducted among people aged ≥60 years in Kashgar, China between January and February 2026. Participants were recruited through multi-stage random sampling. Multivariable logistic regression models were fitted.

Results

Among all participants, 56.5% intended to receive a fully subsidized SIV in the next year. Among those without a prior vaccination history, 48.2% and 49.7% intended to receive fully subsidized PV and RSV vaccination in the next year, respectively. After adjusting for significant background characteristics, higher levels of self-compassion (e.g., higher levels of mindfulness, self-kindness and common humanity, and lower levels of over-identification, isolation and self-judgment) were associated with higher odds of behavioral intention to receive a fully subsidized SIV, PV and/or RSV vaccination.

Conclusions

Our findings suggested a new angle to promote vaccination uptake. Future studies may evaluate the efficacy of self-compassion interventions in improving vaccination uptake among older adults.