Vaccines and autism: a preliminary qualitative study on the beliefs of concerned mothers in Italy.

: While a large body of evidence has shown that the administration of the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine is not associated with an increased risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a hesitant attitude towards childhood vaccination is still present among the public. In this study, we aim to investigate the mothers' perceptions of the cause of their child's ASD in order to increase our understanding of vaccine hesitancy.: This study draws on the analysis of 18 semi-structured interviews of mothers of children with ASD on the causes of autism.