Using coaches as role models of sun protection for youth: Georgia's “got youth covered” project

Abstract

Youths’ sun exposure increases their risk for development of both non‐melanoma and melanoma skin cancers later in life. This project extends previous efforts to increase the sun protective practices of youth through the design and evaluation of a program to train soccer coaches (N = 99) to model sun protection to soccer‐playing youth (N = 575). Pretest results determined that coaches’ feelings of self‐efficacy predicted their behavioral and verbal modeling of sun protection to youth, with procedural knowledge and access to social resources also significantly predicting the likelihood that coaches would promote sun protection to youth. Coaches who participated in a one‐hour training program to increase their procedural knowledge about skin cancer prevention and detection were found to significantly increase their sun protection behavior and feelings of self‐efficacy about sun protection, as compared to coaches who interacted with parents that received novel information about youth's sun exposure risk. Youth whose coaches attended the training seminar reported that their coaches were more likely to promote sun protection to them than youth in the control condition. Implications for communication with role models and use of coaches as sources of influence on youths’ health behaviors are discussed.