Do people make different risk-based decisions for their children than for themselves?

Background. People tend to be unrealistically optimistic about personal health risks, yet parents are often highly sensitive to risks when making health-related decisions for their children. This study explored whether parents are more likely to vaccinate their children than themselves in hypothetical risk scenarios. Methods. A within-subjects online survey design was used. 245 parents chose whether to vaccinate in nine fictional influenza scenarios, which varied by risk level associated with non-vaccination (low, medium, high), and risk target (self, child, own parent [control]). Scenarios were presented in one of three set sequences. Findings. Controlling for risk level, participants were more likely to vaccinate their child than themselves, but only where the task sequence began with a scenario relating to themselves or their parent (F[4,14] = 4.49, p