Effects of Engagement with a Social Media Campaign for Mothers to Prevent Indoor Tanning by Teens in a Randomized Trial

Abstract

In a social media campaign aimed at reducing mothers’ permissiveness for indoor tanning (IT) by their teenage daughters, a secondary analysis of campaign engagement effects on IT outcomes was performed. Mothers (n = 869) with daughters aged 14–17 were recruited in 34 states that did not ban IT by minors under age 18 for a randomized trial with follow-up at 12 months (end of intervention) and 18 months (6 months after intervention) post-randomization. Daughters’ (n = 469) baseline and follow-up responses were analyzed too. Mothers received a Facebook feed on adolescent health topics that included posts about preventing IT (intervention) or prescription drug misuse (control). Engagement was measured by extracting reactions (e.g., like, sad, etc.) and comments posted by mothers to the campaign posts. Overall, 76.4% of posts received a reaction and/or comment. Mothers who engaged with IT posts were less permissive of daughters’ IT immediately at the conclusion of the campaign (permit IT: −0.39, p < .05; facilitate IT: −0.29, p < .05) and 6 months after intervention (permit IT: −0.32, p < .05; facilitate IT: −0.31, p < .05) than mothers who did not engage with posts. Engagement with posts was essential to the success of a social media campaign for preventing IT by minors by reducing mothers’ permissiveness.