BackgroundThe risk for skin cancer is increased among older males and outdoor workers who have high levels of ultraviolet (UV) exposure.PurposeThis study was designed to examine the long-term efficacy of UV photography interventions on male outdoor workers, the potential mediators of its impact, and the efficacy of UV photography and skin cancer vs. aging information with this population.MethodsOne hundred forty-eight male outdoor workers were randomly assigned to one of four intervention conditions or a control condition in a two by two plus one factorial design. The men in the intervention conditions received or did not receive a UV photo of their face and watched either a photoaging or skin cancer educational video. Participants completed pre-intervention, immediate post-intervention, and 2-month and 1-year follow-up assessments.ResultsAnalysis of covariance and structural equation modeling revealed that participants in the UV photography and cancer information interventions reported higher levels of sun protection cognitions, which were significant partial mediators of increases in sun protection behaviors and decreases in skin color.ConclusionsThis study provides evidence for effective sun protection interventions on male outdoor workers that may help reduce skin cancer risk.

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Objective-To examine substance-related attitudes and behaviors among college students across an academic semester.Design-Pre-post quasi-experimental survey design. Setting-A large Midwestern University.Method-Surveys were completed by 299 undergraduates enrolled in three courses: drugs and behavior, abnormal psychology, and normal personality theories.Results-Although students enrolled in the drug course were not more knowledgeable about drugs than others at baseline, their knowledge increased by semester's end, while the others' did not. Perceived prevalence of alcohol use was more accurate and became increasingly accurate among drugs and behavior students. Class enrollment, gender, and baseline substance use were associated with baseline attitudes and behaviors as well as changes over time. Conclusion-This study offers implications for substance use education opportunities on college campuses. KeywordsDrug and alcohol education; substance use prevention; college students Drug and alcohol use and abuse among college students is a major concern. Sixty-eight percent of college students admitted to drinking alcohol at least occasionally in a 2007 study by Columbia University's National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse 1 . The study also found that almost half of the 5.4 million full-time college students in the United States abuse drugs or drink alcohol on binges at least once per month 1 . Approximately 23% of college students met the medical definition for alcohol or substance abuse or dependence 1 . Furthermore, the study indicated that use rates for many substances increased between 1993 and 2005. Use of any illicit drug in the past year was up from 31% in 1993 to 37% in 2005; marijuana use in the past year was up from 28% in 1993 to 33% in 2005; cocaine use in the past year was up from 3% in 1993 to 6% in 2005; and use of prescription painkillers in the past year was up from less than 1% in 1993 to 3% in 2005 1 .Corresponding author: Carolyn J. Heckman, PhD, Assistant Professor and Associate Member, Cancer Prevention and Control Program, Fox Chase Cancer Center, 510 Township Line Rd., First Floor, Cheltenham, PA 19012, USA, (phone) 215-214-3962, (fax) 215-728-2707, carolyn.heckman@fccc.edu. NIH Public Access Author ManuscriptHealth Educ J. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2012 December 1. NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author ManuscriptResearch has demonstrated that campus-wide prevention campaigns focusing on information or awareness tend to have minimal effect on actual alcohol or drug use behaviors 2 . Several studies have even demonstrated an increase in maladaptive drug-related attitudes and/or drug use with non-classroom prevention programming. This is more often the case for didactic, informational, or general skills-based programs using abstinence-oriented approaches with high-risk (i.e., currently drug using) populations [2][3][4][5][6] . While it is hoped that academic health courses (e.g., drug use, nutrition and exercise, sexuality, etc.) increase k...

Del-Ray Pharmaceuticals (Johnson City, Tennessee) provided the Blue Lizard sunscreen samples offered to study participants free of charge-this contribution is also gratefully acknowledged. Carolyn Cutrona, director of the Institute for Social and Behavioral Research (Ames, Iowa), allowed data for the current study to be collected at the institute. Doug Gentile generously shared a list compiled from his research on children of the names of mothers interested in participating in research studies. The study sample used in the current research was drawn from this list. Finally, all of the women who participated in this study are acknowledged for the time and effort they sacrificed in order to contribute to this scientific endeavor.