The effect of a school-based sun protection program on students' sun protection behavior in Turkey

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study was to discover whether a school-based sun protection program (SPP) developed in line with the transtheoretical model (TTM) had an impact on students in an intervention group in the stages of change of developing sun protection behavior, reducing the number of sunburns adolescents sustain, and in terms of their perceptions of pros and cons and self-efficacy, as compared to the control group.

Design and methods: This study was designed as pre-/posttest control group semi-experimental research. The research was carried out with 376 adolescents in two schools. One of the schools was randomly designated as the intervention group of students and the other represented the control group. The chi-square test and the two-way repeated measures analysis of variance were used in the analysis of the data. The SPP formed the basis for the program.

Results: The control group's sunscreen use and sun avoidance stages were behind and their self-efficacy mean scores significantly lower than the intervention group after the implementation of the SPP (p < .05).

Conclusions: The study showed that a SPP was effective in achieving progress in the TTM for sun protection. It can be suggested that school nurses will find it useful to make use of the sun protection program.

Application to practice: School nurses who provide protective healthcare services can play an effective role in reducing the exposure of children and adolescents to the sun and promoting the development of sun protection behavior in schools.