Social Media Indoor Tanning Study

University of Connecticut

Status: Completed

Conditions: Skin Cancer

Treatments: Behavioral: Sun Safety Social Media Challenge; Behavioral: Digital Health Social Media Challenge

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; NIH

Identifiers

NCT03834974

H19-033

R21CA226133-01 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Details and patient eligibility

About

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.

Full description

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.

Enrollment: 66 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 30 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Ages 18-30
• Tanned indoors or outdoors at least once in the past year
• Intends to tan indoors or outdoors this summer
• Daily user of any social media platform

Exclusion criteria

• No smartphone
• Does not use a social media platform daily
• Lives in a state with an average temperature <75 degrees in May
• Inability to provide consent due to mental illness or a cognitive impairment
• Non-English speaking
• Prisoner

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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66 participants in 2 patient groups

Sun Safety Social Media Challenge

Experimental group

Description:

During this 4-week intervention, participants will be incentivized to create sun safety social media messages that will be distributed on our sun safety Twitter and Facebook feeds.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Sun Safety Social Media Challenge

Digital Health Social Media Challenge

Active Comparator group

Description:

During this 4-week intervention, participants will be incentivized to create posts that promote the use of technology to engage in healthy lifestyle behaviors (diet, exercise) on our digital health Twitter and Facebook feeds.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Digital Health Social Media Challenge