Young women and suntanning: An evaluation of a heath education leaflet

Adolescents' sun exposure is particularly important because of the increased risk of melanoma associated with sunburn in youth. Further education students (N=97, all women) aged 16-19 years were randomised by classroom to either receive an informational leaflet about skin cancer or not. All participants completed a baseline assessment and a follow-up assessment one week later. Across all participants, self-reported tanning the previous summer was associated with greater perceived benefits minus costs of sunbathing, and lower scores on the personality dimension of Intellect. Self-reported use of sun protection last summer was associated with greater knowledge about skin cancer, and higher scores on the personality dimension of Conscientiousness. The leaflet appeared to increase knowledge (p<0.001) in the experimental condition compared to the control condition, but not to change beliefs about sunbathing. No participants in the control condition changed between the action and non-action stages of change, whereas eight participants in the experimental condition showed a downward shift from action to non-action (p<0.003). The value of increasing knowledge of skin cancer, the role of personality in sun protection, and the unexpected finding for stage of change are discussed.