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Grant awarded to develop web-based intervention for indoor tanning behavior

The National Cancer Institute has awarded a grant of nearly $700,000 to a Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey scientist to develop a web-based behavioral intervention to help motivate change among young women who are frequent indoor tanners.

“It is clear that tanning is seen as attractive and desirable among many young women and that having a tan can provide a self-esteem boost,” Jerod L. Stapleton, PhD, a behavioral scientist at Rutgers Cancer Institute and assistant professor of medicine at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, said in a press release. “However, when it comes to frequent users, going tanning is likely to take on a significant importance at personal, social and even emotional levels. A greater understanding of the decision-making of frequent indoor tanning users to engage in this activity can help researchers develop effective interventions for this population.”

The Career Development Grant will support the work of Stapleton and colleagues through 2019. The researchers plan to first conduct interviews and focus groups with those who frequently use indoor tanning to identify intervention content, according to the release. Young women from the greater New Brunswick, NJ, area aged 18 to 25 years who have engaged in indoor tanning at least 10 times during the previous year, will be recruited for the study.

“The information gained from the earlier phase will be developed into a web-based tool including twice weekly text messages with tips designed to help frequent indoor tanners monitor, reduce and change their tanning behavior,” the release stated.

The researchers also will seek participants to evaluate the online tool, so the intervention can be refined for use in a larger-scale evaluation trial, according to the release.

“A behavioral intervention program designed to encourage tanners to meaningfully reflect on their reasons for tanning may prompt them to take steps to reduce or change this practice, thus helping to reduce their risk of developing melanoma,” Stapleton said.