Skin cancer: how portuguese “sunbathers” perceive risk

- 37 - 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] - 38 - 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. - 39 - 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.