Turning fad into fiction: the influence of two appearance-based interventions on tanning attitudes and behaviors

Skin cancer is the most prevalent form of cancer diagnosed in the United States. In\ud recent years, there has been a 50% increase in melanoma skin cancer diagnoses\ud among young Caucasian females. There is evidence of increasing awareness on the\ud part of the general public of the link between skin cancer and exposure to ultraviolet\ud (UV) rays, but despite this increased awareness there is evidence that people are\ud continuing to tan. The present study examined the effectiveness of two appearance-based\ud interventions in their ability to motivate sun protection behaviors. One\ud intervention involved combining a UV facial photograph depicting current underlying\ud skin damage and information about photoaging (PAUV). The other involved\ud exposure to media images depicting non-tanned models and celebrities (Media). One\ud hundred and seventy-one females were randomly assigned in a 2 (media vs. no\ud media) x 2 (PAUV vs. no PAUV) factorial design. The results demonstrated no\ud difference in tanning attitudes across conditions. However, participants in the PAUV\ud condition reported higher intentions for future sun protection use than did controls,\ud and participants in the combined condition (Media+ PAUV) reported higher\ud intentions for future sun protection use compared to all other conditions. In addition,\ud in a surprise 5-week follow up, participants in the combined intervention reported\ud significantly less incidental exposure and significantly more sun protection use\ud compared to all other conditions. Finally, participants in the PAUV conditions\ud reported greater sharing of sun protection information compared to those who did not\ud receive the PAUV intervention.\ud Keywords: Tanning, Skin cancer, Photoaging, UV Photos, Mass media, Magazine