Fox Chase Researcher Brings Students Face-to-Face With Skin Cancer Risk

For additional information about this study, contact study staff at skin.savvy@fccc.edu or 215-360-7149.

With a special instant Polaroid camera, Fox Chase Cancer Center behavioral researcher Carolyn Heckman, PhD, is hoping to motivate young adults to reduce their risk of skin cancer.

This spring, Heckman will initiate the Skin Savvy study to examine several novel approaches for improving skin protection behaviors in young adults, who will be recruited from area colleges.

The study will include three components targeting both skin cancer and appearance-related concerns. The first approach is to show participants ultraviolet (UV)-filtered photos that reveal their own existing facial skin damage, not typically visible to the naked eye, to pinpoint areas that may become problematic in the future.

"People are usually surprised and sometimes disappointed when they see the UV detection photographs," Heckman notes, because the effects are often worse than they expected.

The second approach is motivational interviewing, a counseling style used to enhance internal motivation to change health behaviors such as substance addictions. For the first time it will be used in skin cancer prevention. Heckman will use this type of interview to understand participants' motivation for engaging in activities, such as excessive tanning.

"We'd like to elicit their concerns about tanning, like getting wrinkles, for example," Heckman explains. "We want to focus on motivation of the behaviors, asking 'What do you like about tanning?' and 'What are the down-sides of tanning?'"

The third approach is providing education about ways to protect the skin from the effects of UV radiation in terms of skin-cancer risk and the visible signs of aging.

In addition to skin cancer risk, previous studies on both indoor and outdoor tanning suggest that some individuals may develop a tanning dependence or "tanorexia," as it has been referred to in the media. Reinforced by both the psychological and physiological effects of tanning, some people may develop an addiction that has been compared to smoking or other substance dependencies.

A few studies have reported opiate-like withdrawal symptoms when frequent tanners quit suddenly. It has been suggested that tanning may produce endogenous opioids such as the "runner's high." Heckman will be assessing self-reported tanning dependence in the current study and hopes to target it more directly in future studies.

The goals of this randomized controlled trial are to evaluate the efficacy of the approaches, the durability of their effects over the course of a year and what predicts tanning and protective behaviors. The study protocol includes one personal intervention session and three follow-ups.

"We want to offer interventions that will help people become more motivated to change their behaviors and lead healthier lives," Heckman says.