Needle fear and emotion work in pan-gender human papillomavirus vaccination: exploring the benefits of emotional compression

Journal article, 2026

Needle fear is a prevalent concern among children and adolescents, with significant gendered dimensions. While research has explored ways to mitigate fear and distress in clinical settings, less attention has been given to the social and emotional dynamics of school-based vaccinations. This article draws upon observations and interviews with students and school nurses and examines the emotional work surrounding human papillomavirus vaccination among Swedish primary school students aged ten to 11, a cohort now included, irrespective of gender, in the updated national vaccination programme. Drawing on the sociology of emotion and Táíwò’s work on emotional compression, the authors analyse how primary school students and school nurses engage in emotion management. The article highlights the prosocial values of emotional compression as being independent of gender, as a collective practice and as encouraged by school nurses and teachers to prevent the negative effects of emotional contagion in a school class during the vaccination process. Rather than viewing emotional restraint as an absence of emotional expression, the authors join those who argue that emotional compression may be thought of as emotional work. By framing emotional compression as a valuable emotion management practice, this article contributes to discussions on gendered emotion norms, peer support and the role of primary school students’ collective emotional work in school vaccinations. The findings have implications for improving school-based vaccination procedures by acknowledging the emotional strategies employed by students and school nurses.