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Depa amen o
de Pe sonalidad,
E aluación y
T a amien o
Psicológicos
Anua io de Psicología Clínica y de la Salud
Annua y o Clinical and Heal h Psychology Yea 2013 • Volume 09 • Pages 37 o 39
Skin cance : how po uguese “sunba he s” pe cei e isk
Ri a Sil es e Cos a and Ana Rosa Tapadinhas
Ins i u o Supe io de Psicologia Aplicada, Ins i u o Uni e si á io, ISPA-IU
Abs ac :
Skin cance has been on he ise among he Caucasian popula ion and scien i ic li e a u e sugges s ha he incidence o his
ype o cance could be p e en ed i indi iduals adop ed p ecau iona y beha iou s. E ec i ely, a es dec ease i ci izens a oid
p olonged exposu e o he sun and p o ec hemsel es when exposed. The cu en esea ch pape aims o unde s and how a
sample o Po uguese ci izens pe cei e he isk o skin cance du ing ba hing season. Me hod: A sample o 318 pa icipan s,
be ween 18 and 74 yea s o age, was ga he ed and bo h he Risk pe cep ion o Skin Cance and he Socio-Demog aphic Ques-
ionnai e we e employed. Resul s: I was ound ha he isk pe cep ion in he sample could be conside ed median, and is
signi ican ly highe han he a e age isk awa eness in gene al. Conclusions: The s udy p o ides a boos owa ds iden i ying
p io i ies in in e en ion p og ams in cance and p e en i e beha io s. As ecommenda ions o u u e esea ch, we sugges ed
compa a i e da a, alida ions o he scale and quali a i e me hodology. Fu u e esea ch should examine he ela ions be ween
isk pe cep ion in concomi ance wi h o he psychological concep s.
Keywo ds: Risk pe cep ion, Skin cance , Sun exposu e, Heal h Psychology.
Recei ed:26/06/2013 Accep ed: 05/09/2013
In oduc ion
In Po ugal, i is es ima ed ha each yea he e a e ap-
p oxima ely 10,000 new diagnoses o non-melanoma skin
cance and abou 1000 cases o melanoma (www.apcanc o-
cu aneo.p ), he mos se ious o m o skin cance (Pollock,
2006). Numbe s a e high no only o ou o e all popula ion,
bu also o he Eu opean a es (Pa en e, Gomes, Viana, &
Valley, 2012). The a o emen ioned esea ch solidly es ab-
lishes ha , wi h ega ds o he a ious ypes o skin cance ,
he o emos ex e nal cause is exposu e o ul a iole ays
(Kaspa ian, McLoone, & Meise , 2009). I is es ima ed ha
4 in 5cases o skin cance could be p e en ed by educing
sola exposu e, pa icula ly a oiding sunbu ns and using
sunsc een(Hawkes, Hamil on, Whi e, & Young, 2012; My-
e s & Ho swill, 2006).In his con ex , isk pe cep ion plays
an impo an ole in mos cogni i e models o p edic ing
heal h- ela ed beha iou (B ewe , Chapman, Ge a d, Mc-
Caul, & Weins ein, 2007; Camilo & Lima, 2010; Hay e al.,
2011) and i appea s ha isk is a unde lying componen in
exposu e o sunligh (C aciun, Schüz, Lippke, & Schwa ze ,
2010; Sjöbe g, Holm, Ullén, & B andbe g, 2004). Acco ding
o Janssen, Osch, V ies and Lechne (2011), isk pe cep ion
can be measu ed along he dimensions o Pe cei ed Likeli-
hood and Pe cei ed Se e i y.
Objec i e
Ha ing es ablished hese ac s, and aking in o accoun he
ew exis ing s udies on his subjec , he ollowing esea ch
p oblem sugges s i sel : Wha is he isk pe cep ion o skin
cance among a sample o Po uguese sunba he s du ing he
ba hing season?
Me hods
Pa icipan s. The pa icipan s we e 318 sunba he s om
di e en dis ic s o Po ugal; o hese 64.2% we e emale
and 35.8 % male. All we e aged be ween 18 and 74 yea s
(M=35.61; SD=12.412).
Ins umen s. Two ins umen s we e employed, he “Risk
Pe cep ion o Skin Cance (Janssen e al., 2011), ansla ed
by ou sel es and he “Sociodemog aphic Ques ionnai e”.
The “Risk Pe cep ion o Skin Cance ”(Janssen e al., 2011),
consis s o wo main ope a ionaliza ions, one o Pe cei ed
Likelihood and he o he o Pe cei ed Se e i y.
P ocedu e.A ial un was ca ied ou . We p oceeded o
collec he sample, which is es ic ed o subjec s wi h min-
imum age o 18 yea s, o Po uguese na ionali y, Caucasians,
wi h he addi ional c i e ion o being sunba he s. T ea men
and s a is ical analysis o da a was made using he S a is ical
Package o he Social Sciences( e sion 20.0 o Windows). The
p esen s udy is one o a co ela ional and desc ip i e quan-
i a i e na u e. I also has an explo a o y na u e (D’Oli ei a,
2007).
Resul s
In o de o answe he poin o esea ch, we pe o med a
S uden - es o pai ed samples. The esul s (Table 1) indi-
ca e ha he isk pe cep ion in skin cance was median in
his sample compa ed wi h he alues o a popula ion answe
a e age o 3.00. B ie ly, isk pe cep ion, (317) = 15.040,
Con ac in o mac ion:
Ri a Cos a
Rua Ven u a Ab an es, nº7,3ºB (1750-323 Lisboa, Po ugal)
Tel.: (+351)917855869
i asil es ecos [email protected]
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Anua io de Psicología Clínica y de la Salud
Annua y o Clinical and Heal h Psychology Yea 2013 Volume 9
p = 0.000, was signi ican ly highe in he sample han a e -
age isk pe cep ion in an a e age popula ion. The Pe cei ed
Likelihood, (317) = -2.139, p = 0.033, was signi ican ly lowe
in he sample han he a e age Pe cei ed Likelihood. Com-
pa a i ely he Pe cei ed Se e i y was signi ican ly highe in
he sample, (317) = 18.5170, p = 0.000, han he a e age Pe -
cei ed Se e i y.
Re e ences
B äns öm, R., K is jansson, S., & Ullén, H. (2005). Risk
pe cep ion, op imis ic bias, and eadiness o change sun
ela ed beha iou . Eu opean Jou nal o Public Heal h, 16(5),
492-497.
B ewe , N. T., Chapman, G. B., Ge a d, M., McCaul, K. D.,
& Weins ein, N. D. (2007). Me a-analysis o he ela ion-
ship be ween isk pe cep ion and heal h beha iou : The
example o accina ion. Heal h Psychology, 26(2), 136-145.
Camilo, C., & Lima, M. L. (2010). No que se pensa quando
se pensa em doenças?: es udo psicomé ico dos iscos de
sáude. Re is a po uguesa de sáude pública, 28 (2), 140-154.
Ces a i, M. E., & Zago, M. M. (2005). A p e enção do cânce
e a p omoção de sáude: um desa io pa a o século XXI. Re-
is a B asilei a de En e magem, 58(2), 218-221.
C aciun, C., Schüz, N., Lippke, S., & Schwa ze , R. (2010).
Risk pe cep ion mode a es how in en ions a e ansla ed
in o sunsc een use. Jou nal o Beha io al Medicine, 33, 392-
398.
D’Oli ei a, T. (2007). Teses e Disse ações: Recomendações
pa a a elabo ação e es u u ação de abalhos cien í icos. Lis-
boa: Edi o a RH.
Hawkes, A. L., Hamil on, K., Whi e, K. M., & Young, R. M.
(2012). A andomised con olled ial o a heo y-based
in e en ion o imp o e sun p o ec i e beha iou in ado-
lescen s (“you can s ill be HOT in he shade”): s udy p o-
ocol. BioMedCen al Cance , 12(1), 1-8.
Hay, J., DiBona en u a, M., Base , R., P ess, N., Sho elle , J.,
& Bowen, D. (2011). Pe sonal a ibu ions o melanoma
isk in melanoma-a ec ed pa ien s and amily membe s.
Jou nal o Beha io al Medicine, 34, 53-63.
Hen iques, A. M., & Lima, M. L. (2003). Es ados a e i os,
pe ceção do isco e do supo e social: A amilia idade e a
ele ância como mode ado es nas espos as de cong uên-
cia com o es ado de espí i o . Análise Psicológica , 3 (XXI),
375-392.
Janssen, E., Osch, L. V., V ies, H. D., & Lechne , L. (2011).
Measu ing isk pe cep ions o skin cance : Reliabili y and
alidi y o di e en ope a ionaliza ions. B i ish Jou nal o
Heal h Psychology, 16, 92-112.
Kaspa ian, N. A., McLoone, J. K., & Meise , B. (2009). Skin
cance - ela ed p e en ion and sc eening beha iou s: a e-
iew o he li e a u e. Jou nal o Beha io al Medicine, 32,
406-428.
Table 1 –S uden es o Risk Pe cep ion
Medium SD TSig.
Risk pe cep-
ion 3,36 0,42 15,040 0,000***
Pe cei ed
likelihood 2,92 0,58 -2,139 0,033**
Pe cei ed
se e i y 3,48 0,46 18,517 0,000***
* * p ≤ 0,05 *** p ≤ 0,001
Discussion and conclusions
The isk pe cep ion in he sample o  Po uguese ci izens
could be conside ed median, and is signi ican ly highe
han he a e age isk awa eness in gene al. Howe e , when
compa ing he wo ope a ionaliza ions o isk pe cep ion,
we ound ha he pa icipan s epo edbeing awa e o he
se e i y o skin cance , bu conside ed ha hey had a low-
e Pe cei ed Likelihood o su e ing om his disease.This
could be suppo ed by he esea ch o B äns öm, K is jans-
son, andUllen (2005). Taking in o accoun hese alues, we
may be be o e a case o “un ealis ic op imism” (Radcli e
& Klein, 2002; Hen iques & Lima, 2003). We should also
conside he possibil y o a denial mechanism as a s a e-
gy o minimizing isk pe cep ion (Thielen, Ha mann, &
Soa es, 2008). Focusing on gene alis Heal h psychology, he
da a could be app oached in ligh o he biomedical model
(Ogden, 2004). Gi en he ele ance o he opicand i sex-
plo a o y na u e, one can iew his s udy as a s epping s one
in he unde s andingo isk pe cep ion in indi iduals who
a end he beach and ha a e acing he mos impo an isk
ac o : sun exposu e - a ac o ha is in u n condi ioned by
awa eness and esponsible beha iou o each indi idual (Ce-
s a i & Zago, 2005). In e ms o implica ions, he s udy could
p o ide aboos  owa ds iden i ying p io i ies in in e en ion
p og ams. I should be no ed ha he e we e some limi a-
ions, as he impac o social desi abili y, andom esponses
and he absence o compa a i e da a should be no ed. As
ecommenda ions o u u e esea ch, we sugges ed u he
alida ion o he scale o he popula ion and ga he /analyz-
ing he da a h ough a quali a i e me hodology (Pais-Ribei-
o, 2008). Finally, i is sugges eds udying isk pe cep ion in
concomi ance wi h o he psychological aspec s.
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Cos a and Tapadinhas
Skin cance : how po uguese “sunba he s” pe cei e isk
Mye s, L. B., & Ho swill, M. S. (2006). Social cogni i e p e-
dic o s o sun p o ec ion in en ion and beha iou . Beha -
io al Medicine, 32, 57-63.
Ogden, J. (2004). Psicologia da Saúde (2ª ed. Re .). Lisboa:
Climepsi Edi o es.
Pais- Ribei o, J. (2008). Me odologia de In es igação em Psico-
logia e Saúde. Po o: Legis Edi o a.
Pa en e, J., Gomes, J., Viana, I., & Vale, E. (2012). Va ian es
a as de Melanoma Maligno – Um desa io clínico e his o-
pa ológico. Re is a Sociedade Po uguesa de De ma ologia e
Vene eologia, 70 (2). Recupe ado a 10 se emb o, 2012, de
h p://spd .com.p /p /?id=61&mid=7
Pollock, R. E. (2006). Manual de Oncologia Clinica da UICC.
Sao Paulo : 8º Edição.
Radcli e, N. M., & Klein, M. P. (2002). Disposi ional, un e-
alis ic, and compa a i e op imism: Di e en ial ela ions
wi h knowledge and p ocessing o isk in o ma ion and
belie s abou pe sonal isk. Pe sonali y and Social Psycholo-
gy Bulle in, 28, 836-846.
Sjöbe g, L., Holm, L.-E., Ullén, H., & B andbe g, Y. (2004).
Tanning and isk pe cep ion in adolescen s. Heal h, Risk &
Socie y, 6(1), 81-94.
Thielen, I. P., Ha mann, R. C., & Soa es, D. P. (2008).
Pe ceção de isco e excesso de elocidade. Cad. Saúde Pú-
blica, Rio de Janei o, 24 (1), 131-139.