Modifying Young Adult Skin Cancer Risk and Protective Behaviors

Skin cancer is the most common cancer and can be deadly, debilitating, damaging, and disfiguring, yet is highly preventable. In 2014, the US Surgeon General made a call to action about the "major public health problem" of skin cancer, noting potential contributions of behavioral science and education, and a need for investments in such efforts. Almost five million Americans are treated for skin cancer annually, and incidence is rising. Risk factors for melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers include personal or family history of skin cancer, certain physical characteristics (e.g., fair skin, numerous moles), as well as excessive ultraviolet (UV) radiation exposure. Our work shows that skin cancer risk behaviors, including sunburns, indoor tanning, and lack of protection peak at age 25. Thus, young adulthood is an important window for skin cancer risk reduction interventions. However, young adults tend to be resistant to public health recommendations because, as a group, they perceive themselves as having more immediate priorities than disease prevention, that the consequences of their current health behaviors are in the distant future, and they also tend to be experimenters and risk-takers highly influenced by peers.

The principal investigator developed a web-based intervention (UV4.me) that was found to significantly decrease UV exposure and increase skin protection behaviors among young adults in a randomized controlled trial of nearly 1000 participants.

The objective of this project is to investigate the reach, effectiveness, implementation, maintenance, and cost of an enhanced version of that web intervention (UV4.me2) in a large national randomized controlled trial. The ultimate goal is to improve the skin cancer protection behaviors (and potentially decrease skin cancer incidence) among a national sample of young adults at moderate to high risk of developing skin cancer.

Primary Aim 1. To enhance and determine intervention reach (i.e., enrollment, representativeness).

Primary Aim 2. To determine the effectiveness of the enhanced intervention.

Secondary Aim 1. To determine maintenance of the UV4.m4 and UV4.me2 interventions through evaluation at 6 and 12-month follow-up.

Secondary Aim 2. To determine intervention implementation by young adults.

Secondary Aim 3. To determine the costs of the UV4.me and UV4.me2 interventions.