Project iSTART, a collaboration with East Tennessee State University, was a web-based, appearance-focused intervention directed at a nationally representative sample of high school girls with a goal of reducing tanning intentions, frequency, and the overall percentage of users while increasing sun protective behavior. We tracked these students for two years to examine whether the intervention was able to reduce long-term skin cancer risk behaviors. We also identified subgroups for whom the intervention is more effective versus less effective, such as having a mother who tans, peer group affiliation, or year in school. High school represents a critical developmental stage for both melanoma risk and for the development of regular, frequent tanning habits, and Project iSTART was the first anti-tanning intervention delivered to high school teens via the internet.
Funded by the NIH/NCI.
Subcontract Principal Investigator: Rob Turrisi, Ph.D.
Selected Publications:
Hillhouse, J., Turrisi, R., Scaglione, N. M., Cleveland, M. J., Baker, K., & Florence, L. C. (2017). A web-based intervention to reduce indoor tanning motivations in adolescents: A randomized controlled trial. Prevention Science, 18(2), 131-140. PMCID: PMC5247320 [PubMed]
Hillhouse, J., Turrisi, R., Cleveland, M. J., Scaglione, N. M., Baker, K., & Florence, L. C. (2016). Theory-driven longitudinal study exploring indoor tanning initiation in teens using a person-centered approach. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 50(1), 48-57. PMCID: PMC4744106 [PubMed]
Quinn, M., Alamian, A., Hillhouse, J., Scott, C., Turrisi, R., & Baker, K. (2015). Prevalence and correlates of indoor tanning and sunless tanning product use among female teens in the United States. Preventive Medicine Reports, 2, 40-43. PMCID: PMC4302332 [PubMed]