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Abstract
Objectives To explore whether knowledge about the harms of ultraviolet radiation (UVR) influences UK university students' sun-related behaviours and examine in depth their attitudes towards: sun protection, natural and artificial tanning behaviours.
Design Qualitative methodology with 15 semistructured, individual interviews. Thematic analysis using the Framework Method with analyst triangulation and member validation.
Setting One university in the West Midlands, UK.
Participants 15 Caucasian male (n=4) and female (n=11) students, aged 18–22 years, from a UK university. Participants were recruited using convenience sampling from the university's main campus followed by purposive sampling for: gender, course and sun-related behaviours.
Results Five main themes emerged: (1) knowledge of UVR; (2) sun-protection practices; (3) attitudes towards tanning; (4) external influences and (5) internal influences. All students knew the associated skin cancer risks from the sun and sunbed use, but this did not appear an important influence in their sun-related behaviours. Body image strongly motivated sun-protection practices and the desire to tan naturally or artificially, across both genders. However, participants' final decision-making appeared to be influenced by their beliefs that practising known harmful sun-related behaviours would not affect them or the perceived susceptibility to sunburn. Beliefs about sunbathing and sunscreen use prompted improper use of sun protection and inadvertently caused more harmful practices. Participants' peers, family and the media had dual roles influencing the development of attitudes towards sun protection and tanning, which contributed to how participants behaved in the sun and their engagement in tanning methods.
Conclusions Knowledge about the risk of skin cancer associated with UVR did not strongly influence sun-related behaviours, whereas body image appeared as a key motivator. Attitudes towards sun protection and tanning stemmed from the media, peers and family, and particularly from childhood habits. Public health strategies may benefit from appearance-related skin cancer prevention campaigns, encouraging safer parental sun-related habits and correcting sun-related misconceptions.
- Sun-related behaviours
- Attitudes
- Students
- Knowledge
- Qualitative
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Footnotes
Contributors LK conceived and designed the study, with guidance from SG who also provided qualitative methodological support. LK conducted and transcribed all the interviews. LK conducted the analysis alongside SG who served as the additional analyst during the coding process and development of subcategories. LK produced the final manuscript under the supervision of SG.
Funding This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors. SG is part funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRC).
Disclaimer The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NIHR, the NHS or the Department of Health.
Competing interests None declared.
Ethics approval Ethical approval was granted by the BMedSc Population Sciences and Humanities Internal Ethics Review Committee at the University of Birmingham. Data archives will be stored at the University of Birmingham, in accordance with the University's code of practice.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
Data sharing statement No additional data are available.