Sun Safe Together: A Digital Skin Cancer Prevention Intervention for Adolescents and Their Parents

A Digital Skin Cancer Prevention Intervention for Adolescents and Their Parents

The goal of this pilot clinical trial is to learn if a digital intervention to improve sun safety, Sun Safe Together (SST), is feasible and acceptable to teenagers and their parents.

Melanoma is a leading cause of invasive cancer in teens and young adults aged 15-39. Most skin cancers are preventable with skin protection such as minimizing UVR exposure and wearing protective clothing and sunscreen. However, teens have low levels of sun protection. Thus, interventions targeting skin cancer risk reduction among teens are needed. The proposed Sun Safe Together (SST) intervention is a 12-week program consisting of sun safety and general health messages sent via multimedia messaging service (MMS) to teens and via a private Facebook group for parents.

This pilot trial is a single arm test of SST to determine:

1. feasibility of enrolling parent-teen dyads
2. engagement with/acceptability of the intervention via message views and acceptability ratings
3. outcome data collection feasibility (i.e., daily diary, UVR exposure measured by UVR dosimeter)
4. retention rates for teens and parents at 3 and 6 months

Inclusion Criteria:

Parents and teens are participating as dyads, meaning both the parent and the teen need to be deemed eligible based on the criteria below to be able to participate.

Teens

• Must be ages 13-17 years
• Live with study parent equal to or greater than half time in US
• Have experienced sunburn or indoor tanned in the last year or have a suboptimal sun protection score
• Have no personal history of melanoma or severe medical condition that prevents participation
• Have access to smartphone
• Speak and read English

Parents/Guardians

• Must be age 18 or older
• Live with a teen equal to or greater than half time in US
• Have a teen who had experienced sunburn or indoor tanned in the last year or have a suboptimal sun protection score
• Have no personal history of melanoma or severe medical condition that prevents participation
• Have internet at home, a Facebook account, and be willing to use Facebook daily
• Have access to smartphone
• Speak and read English