Mothers key to adult daughters' inoculation.

• Position: HPV Vaccine

Even after young women reach adulthood, their mothers can play a key rote in convincing them to receive the human papillemavirus (HPV) vaccine suggests research from Ohio State University, Columbus, which found that college-aged females were more likely to say they had received the HPV vaccine if they had talked to their mother about it.

"It is an encouraging finding, because it shows that communication between mothers and daughters can be very helpful, even if it may be difficult sometimes," explains Janice Krieger, lead author of the study and assistant professor of communication.

Many mothers and daughters may be uncomfortable talking about the HPV vaccine, because it is designed to prevent the spread of a sexually-transmitted virus. The vaccine is important since a persistent HPV infection may cause cancer. HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection and will infect about half of sexually active people in the U.S. during their lifetimes.

Fears about susceptibility to HPV and the severity of HPV-caused illness--on the parts of mothers and daughters--were not related to whether they talked about the issue. "Fear does not seem to be the motivator," Krieger notes. "It really depends on the mothers believing that the HPV vaccine is safe and...