Vaccine Hesitancy, Health Literacy and Trust in Science

Kirbiš, A. & Branilović, S. (2026). Perceived ideological polarization, trust in science and healthcare, and COVID-19 vaccination intention: A four-wave cross-lagged mediation panel analysis. Social Science & Medicine.

Key finding: In a four-wave Slovenian panel (N=488) using a random-intercept cross-lagged panel model, perceived ideological polarization had no within-person causal effect on later trust or vaccination intention; between-person trust in science and healthcare predicted COVID-19 vaccination intention.

Lamot, M., Kirbiš, A., & Kerman, K. (2026). Are individuals with persistently high conspiracy mentality also persistently vaccine-hesitant? Findings from a three-wave panel study. Social Science & Medicine.

Key finding: In a three-wave Slovenian panel (N=574), conspiracy mentality and vaccine hesitancy behaved as stable, correlated dispositions rather than causing each other over four months, with lower trust in science linking them.

Lamot, M. & Kirbiš, A. (2024). Multilevel analysis of COVID-19 vaccination intention: The moderating role of economic and cultural country characteristics. European Journal of Public Health.

Key finding: Across 26 European countries (ESS Round 10, N≈51,000), institutional trust and healthcare satisfaction predicted COVID-19 vaccination intention more strongly in less corrupt, more developed countries, while conspiracy beliefs had stronger negative effects in more corrupt, collectivistic ones.

Lubej, M. & Kirbiš, A. (2025). Why does health literacy matter, and for whom? Explaining the differentiating impact of health literacy on vaccine attitudes. Frontiers in Psychology.

Key finding: In Slovenia (N=3,360), health literacy strengthened vaccine attitudes both directly and by reducing vaccine-myth beliefs, with stronger effects among people with healthcare training.

Kirbiš, A. (2022). The impact of cultural capital on vaccine attitudes among the Slovenian public. Vaccines.

Key finding: In Slovenia (N=661), participation in highbrow cultural activities predicted more pro-vaccine attitudes, whereas formal education had no effect.

Vrdelja, M., Branilović, S., Lamot, M., & Kirbiš, A. (2026). Evaluating the psychometric properties of the 7C vaccination readiness scale: Evidence from Slovenia. Slovenian Journal of Public Health.

Key finding: In Slovenia (N=1,350), the general vaccination-readiness factor was the strongest predictor of vaccination intention, and the 7C scale explained more variance in intention than the 5C scale.

Lamot, M. & Kirbiš, A. (2025). Seasonal influenza vaccination uptake among health and medical college students: A discrete choice experiment. Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics.

Key finding: In a discrete choice experiment with Slovenian medical and health students (N=239), higher vaccine efficacy and fewer side effects were the strongest drivers of influenza-vaccination choice.

Lamot, M., Kerman, K., & Kirbiš, A. (2024). Ideological differences in COVID-19 vaccine intention: The effects of trust in the healthcare system, in complementary and alternative medicine, and perceived threat from the disease. Frontiers in Psychology.

Key finding: In Slovenia (N=858), left-leaning individuals reported higher COVID-19 vaccination intention, explained by greater trust in healthcare and lower reliance on complementary medicine.

Lamot, M. & Kirbiš, A. (2024). The validity and reliability of the Slovenian version of the health literacy questionnaire short-form (HLS-EU-Q16) among adults and older adults. Frontiers in Public Health.

Key finding: The Slovenian HLS-EU-Q16 health-literacy questionnaire showed adequate validity and reliability among both adults (N=2,327) and older adults (N=876).

Lamot, M., Kirbiš, A., & Vrdelja, M. (2024). Exploring the inherent heterogeneity of vaccine hesitancy: A study of a childhood-vaccine-hesitant population. Vaccines.

Key finding: A latent profile analysis of vaccine-hesitant Slovenians (N=421) found three subgroups, with the most resistant marked by heavy reliance on personal research, conspiracy endorsement and healthcare distrust.

Lamot, M. & Kirbiš, A. (2024). Understanding vaccine hesitancy: A comparison of sociodemographic and socioeconomic predictors with health literacy dimensions. Vaccines.

Key finding: In Slovenia (N=3,360), younger age, lower education and greater economic deprivation each independently predicted higher vaccine hesitancy.

Lamot, M., Kerman, K., & Kirbiš, A. (2022). Distrustful, dissatisfied, and conspiratorial: A latent profile analysis of COVID-19 vaccination rejection. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

Key finding: Using European Social Survey data (N=1,252), a combination of distrust, dissatisfaction and conspiracy beliefs formed the profile most likely to reject vaccination.

Kirbiš, A. (2023). The impact of socioeconomic status, perceived threat and healthism on vaccine hesitancy. Sustainability.

Key finding: In Slovenia (N=661), lower perceived threat from vaccine-preventable disease and distrust of healthcare were the strongest predictors of vaccine hesitancy, consistent with a healthism explanation.