['To determine whether parents think receiving human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine encourages sexual activity in their children.', 'Parents of children 9 to 17 years old living in Georgia and South Carolina completed a 53-item questionnaire that evaluated their opinions about the HPV vaccine and their feelings about whether receiving it encourages sexual intercourse in their children. Fisher exact tests and t tests were used to identify differences between groups.', 'Participants tended to be white, protestant mothers, 30 to 39 years old with private health insurance. Most parents (301/322, 93.5%) did not believe receiving the HPV vaccine would encourage their child to have sex. Parents who believed the vaccine would encourage sex were more likely to have 15- to 17-year-old children (76% vs 37%, p =.0007), were 40 years or older (62% vs 35%, p =.019), have religious objections to vaccines in general (10% vs 0.3%, p =.01) and the HPV vaccine (14% vs 2%, p =.02), and believed the vaccine would not reduce the risk of cervical cancer in their daughters (50% vs 9%, p =.001).'] Do most parents think receiving human papillomavirus vaccine would encourage sexual activity in their children?