Vaccines and Autism: Research Analysis

Thesis statement: Research findings show that vaccines do not cause autism in children despite the common belief.

Annotated Bibliography

Bervoets, Jo, and Kristien Hens. “Going Beyond the Catch-22 of Autism Diagnosis and Research. The Moral Implications of (Not) Asking “What Is Autism?”.” Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 11, 2020, pp. 1-15. NCBI. Web.

This article deals with the moral dilemma regarding Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Bervoets and Kristien (2020) argue that “autism should not even be defined with reference to behavior that is deemed dysfunctional” (p. 12). The authors claim that adherence to either a social or a biological explanation of the concept of autism results in stigmatization.

Boseley, Sarah. “No Link Between Autism and MMR, Affirms Major Study.” The Guardian. 2019. Web.

This source discusses the study findings confirming the relationship between vaccination and autism. As Bosoley (2019) reports, “the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine does not cause autism.” Furthermore, the article discusses the causes and consequences of vaccine hesitancy.

Goin-Kochel, Robin. P., et al. “Beliefs about Causes of Autism and Vaccine Hesitancy Among Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.” Vaccine, vol. 38, no. 40, 2020, pp. 6327-6333. NCBI. Web.

This study examines the factors contributing to vaccine hesitancy among parents of children with ASD. Goin-Kochel et al. (2020) report that “parents’ negative views about and their sense of control over ASD” impact their uncertainty regarding vaccines (p. 6327). Furthermore, other important factors include the child’s developmental history and functioning.

Hoffman, Jan. “One More Time, With Big Data: Measles Vaccine Doesn’t Cause Autism.” The New York Times. 2019. Web.

This source reveals the research findings confirming that the measles vaccine does not cause autism. As Hoffman reports (2019), “researchers found no greater proportional incidence of the diagnosis between the vaccinated and unvaccinated children.” The new findings confirm the hypothesis of no association between autism and the measles vaccine.

Knopf, Alison. “Vaccines Do Not Cause Autism: Pediatricians Fight Back Against Anti‐Science.” The Brown University Child and Adolescent Behavior Letter, vol. 33, no. S2, 2017, pp.1-2. Wiley Online Library. Web.

This article addresses the concern of parents of children with ASD about the possible causes of the condition. As Knopf (2017) states, pediatricians, face the need to convince families that the “child needs to be protected against infectious diseases” (p. 1). Misleading information about vaccines contributes to the problem of vaccine hesitancy.

Pivetti, Monica, et al. “Vaccines and Autism: A Preliminary Qualitative Study on the Beliefs of Concerned Mothers in Italy.” International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-Being, vol. 15, no. 1, 2020, pp. 1-15. NCBI. Web.

This study addresses the population’s hesitant attitude towards child vaccination. According to Pivetti et al. (2020), one-third of mothers of children with ASD report “that their child’s ASD was a consequence of a combination of two or more factors” (p. 1). The main factor reported is childhood vaccination, while others include genetics and birth-related and environmental impacts.