The purpose of this research is to develop a social media delivered intervention to reduce unprotected sun exposure in young adults with a history of tanning.
We will use social marketing theory and a user-centered design approach to develop a social media intervention that engages young adults with a history of tanning to practice sun safety behaviors. We will incentivize young adults who have a history of tanning to create social media posts that encourage their peers to engage in sun safety. Focus groups of tanners guided the development of the intervention. Investigators will conduct a pilot feasibility trial where participants will be randomized to a condition in which they are incentivized to create sun safety social media messages to be posted on a sun safety social media account or a condition in which they are incentivized to create social media messages about how to use technology to support healthy lifestyle behaviors to be posted on a health technology social media account. The intervention will last 4 weeks. Feasibility outcomes include recruitment, retention, acceptability, participation, social media message engagement (likes, comments, shares), persuasive impact of messages, unprotected sun exposure, sun protection, and tanning behavior. This work will inform a fully powered randomized trial testing the efficacy of this intervention.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
66
Participants will attend a webinar to learn how to create effective social media posts about sun safety and be oriented to the social media accounts on which the messages will be posted. They will be informed that posts should include a sun safety message (e.g., promoting sunscreen use and protective clothing/hats or discouraging risk behaviors like tanning and burning). They will be encouraged to be creative so that the message gets likes and shares. Participants will be encouraged to follow the feeds to see the engagement on their posts, to share the posts in their feed, and to see other participants' posts. Participants will receive a $10 Amazon gift card per post for a maximum of 6 posts ($60). The participant who created the post that receives the most likes, comments, and shares each week will win a $50 Amazon gift card.
Participants will attend a webinar to learn how to create effective social media posts about using technology to get healthy and be oriented to the social media accounts on which the messages will be posted. They will be informed that posts should mention some way that technology (e.g., mobile apps, wearables) can be used to promote a healthy habit (e.g., diet, exercise). They will be encouraged to be creative so that the message gets likes and shares. Participants will be encouraged to follow the feeds to see the engagement on their posts, to share the posts in their feed, and to see other participants' posts. Participants will receive a $10 Amazon gift card per post for a maximum of 6 posts ($60). The participant who created the post that receives the most likes, comments, and shares each week will win a $50 Amazon gift card.
University of Connecticut
Storrs, Connecticut, United States
Recruitment
The number of completed respondents to recruitment ads, number of respondents eligible at initial screening, and number of respondents who completed baseline.
Time frame: Baseline
Retention
The % of participants in each condition who complete the follow-up assessment.
Time frame: 4-week follow-up
Acceptability
Number of participants who selected agree or strongly agree on 5-point Likert scale rating of how likely participants would be to recommend the intervention to a friend, and how likely they would be to participate again.
Time frame: 4-week follow-up
Participation
The number of posts created by participants
Time frame: 4-week follow-up
Post Engagement
The median number of likes, shares and retweets, and unique commenters each participant post received.
Time frame: 4 weeks
Desirability of Tanning
Scale measuring participants' belief that a tan is attractive. Scale ranges from 0-12 with higher scores indicating higher levels of belief that a tan is attractive.
Time frame: Baseline
Desirability of Tanning
Scale measuring participants' belief that a tan is attractive. Scale ranges from 0-12 with higher scores indicating higher levels of belief that a tan is attractive.
Time frame: 4-week follow-up
Desirability of Tanning Alternatives
Average score on items relating to tanning alternative desirability. Scale ranges from 1 to 5, with higher scores indicating more positive attitudes towards tanning alternatives.
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Time frame: Baseline
Desirability of Tanning Alternatives
Average score on items relating to tanning alternative desirability. Scale ranges from 1 to 5, with higher scores indicating more positive attitudes towards tanning alternatives.
Time frame: 4-week follow-up
Persuasive Impact of Participant Messages
The mean of participants ratings for how persuasive they found each post (other than those they created) on a scale of 0-100, with higher scores indicating more persuasive.
Time frame: 4-week follow-up
Contamination
The number of participants who report they saw the opposite conditions Facebook or Twitter feeds.
Time frame: 4-week follow-up
Outdoor Tanning Intentions
Three items assessed intentions to tan even once, intentions to tan regularly in the next year, and intentions to quit on a 7-point scale (0=definitely will not, 6=definitely will).
Time frame: Baseline
Outdoor Tanning Intentions
Three items assessed intentions to tan even once, intentions to tan regularly in the next year, and intentions to quit on a 7-point scale (0=definitely will not, 6=definitely will).
Time frame: 4-week follow-up
Sun Exposure
How many hours the participant spent outside per week between the hours of 10am and 4pm.
Time frame: Baseline
Sun Exposure
How many hours the participant spent outside per week between 10am and 4pm
Time frame: 4-week follow-up
Outdoor Tanning
How many times in the last 4 weeks the participant went outside for the purpose of tanning in the sun.
Time frame: Baseline
Outdoor Tanning
How many times in the last 4 weeks the participant went outside for the purpose of tanning in the sun.
Time frame: 4-week follow-up
Sun Protection
Number of participants who reported using sun protection (sunscreen, protective clothing) often or always in the past month
Time frame: Baseline
Sun Protection
Number of participants who reported using sun protection (sunscreen, protective clothing) often or always in the past month
Time frame: 4-week follow-up
Indoor Tanning Behavior
Number of indoor tanning visits in the previous month
Time frame: Baseline
Indoor Tanning Behavior
Number of indoor tanning visits in the previous month
Time frame: 4 weeks
Sunburn
Number of participants with 1 or more sunburns in the past month
Time frame: baseline
Sunburn
Number of participants with 1 or more sunburns in the past month
Time frame: 4 weeks
Outdoor Tanning Duration
Median reported average number of minutes tanned per episode in the past 4 weeks, among participants who tanned in the past 4 weeks.
Time frame: 4 weeks
Outdoor Tanning Duration
Median reported average number of minutes tanned per episode in the past 4 weeks, among participants who tanned in the past 4 weeks.
Time frame: Baseline