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Primary Submission Category: Public Health Communication and Trust
Erosion of trust in the federal government’s measles response: Findings from a national survey of US parents
Authors: Kristin Goddard, Mallory Ellingson, Katherine Kritikos, Kathryn Kennedy, Benjamin Kahn, Melissa Gilkey, Noel Brewer,
Presenting Author: Kristin Goddard*
Significance. Ongoing US measles outbreaks threaten to again make the disease endemic. Effective mitigation of infectious disease outbreaks often relies on the public’s trust in public health response efforts. We sought to understand how trust in the federal government’s ability to control measles outbreaks has changed since the beginning of 2025, when measles began circulating widely in the US.
Methods. We conducted a nationally representative survey of 1,315 adult parents of children (ages 9-12 years) in May 2025. The online, cross-sectional survey assessed how much trust in the federal government’s ability to control measles outbreaks had changed since the start of 2025. The outcome of trust was categorized as less trust versus unchanged or more trust. We examined the association of less trust in government response with parent characteristics using logistic regression.
Results. Nearly half of parents (47%) reported less trust in the federal government’s ability to control a measles outbreak, with 28% reporting “much less” trust. Consistently liberal-leaning parents were more likely to report less trust in the federal government response compared to consistently conservative-leaning respondents (84% vs. 36%, p<0.05). About half of parents from the Midwest (54%), West (52%) and Northeast (51%) reported less trust compared to 40% of respondents from the South (all p<0.05). Parents with a bachelor’s degree or higher were more likely to report less trust than those with some college or less (57% vs 38%, p<0.05).
Conclusions. Our findings suggest an erosion of parents’ trust in the federal government’s ability to control measles outbreaks. The decrease was strongest among liberal and more educated parents. This lost trust could limit federal health authorities’ ability to control the ongoing measles outbreaks.