psychological harm

Washington, July 30 : While vaccines to protect against sexually transmitted diseases including HIV and herpes are under-development, a University of Missouri researcher has found that college students who believe they are invincible are unlikely to get such vaccines. On the other hand, students who feel invulnerable to psychological harm are more likely to get the vaccine.

"Previous researchers have used invulnerability measures to predict health-endangering behaviors in students, but this study is unique in that it considers the role of invulnerability in students'' health-protective or preventative behaviours," said Russell Ravert, assistant professor in the MU College of Human Environmental Sciences.

For the study, Ravert measured two invulnerability factors- danger and psychological.

He observed that students with increased danger invulnerability- those who viewed themselves as physically invincible- were more likely to decline the vaccine.