Abstract
AbstractMalignant melanoma (MM) is mainly attributable to UV exposure and research indicates that maladaptive sun safe beliefs and behaviour need to be changed in order to help reduce MM prevalence in the most at-risk subset of the UK population; fair-skinned young women. Sun safety interventions which are personalised and appearance-based have been found effective at improving sun safe beliefs and behaviour. To date, no research has explored whether the effectiveness of these interventions can be improved by varying both their format of presentation and temporal framing. In this experimental study, UK fair-skinned young women (n = 65) aged between 16 and 25 rated their sun safe beliefs and behavioural cognitions after being exposed to personalised appearance-based information which varied in terms of format (text vs visual) and temporal framing (immediate vs future). Their sun safe behaviour was also observed. The visual format used the Aprilage® digital sun ageing programme. The results showed that foll...
Highlights
Malignant melanoma (MM) prevalence rates are increasing faster than any other cancer in the UK, with six people dying from MM every day (Cancer Research UK, 2015)
The present study aimed to investigate whether format and temporal framing improved the efficacy of a personalised, appearance-based sun safety intervention
The results showed that those receiving the intervention in a visual format perceived the skin as less able to heal and engaged in more sun safe behaviour through taking more sun safety leaflets and sunscreen samples than those receiving the intervention in text format
Summary
Malignant melanoma (MM) prevalence rates are increasing faster than any other cancer in the UK, with six people dying from MM every day (Cancer Research UK, 2015). Though sun protection and UV knowledge is high, studies show that individuals are still not engaging in protective behaviour (Geller et al, 2002; Kyle et al, 2014). Research has identified a role for factors other than knowledge (Dennis, Lowe, & Snetselaar, 2009a) suggesting that it is tanning attitudes and motivations which need to be changed. The primary motivation behind UV exposure is to improve physical appearance (Brandberg, Ullen, Sjöberg, & Holm, 1998; Dennis, Kancherla, & Snetselaar, 2009b) as tanned skin is perceived as highly attractive (Chung, Gordon, Veledar, & Chen, 2010). The current increase in MM may be related to the desire to be tanned which demonstrates a clear need to identify an effective sun safety promotion strategy to change tanning attitudes and behaviour. Research has highlighted the role of interventions that are both tailored and appearance based
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