Promotion of Sun Protection in Children: An

Excessive sun exposure in childhood has been associated with the development of skin cancer. The aim of this study was the promotion of sun protection behaviors in 1-8 years old children through mother education based on Social Cognitive Theory (SCT). One hundred and sixty five mothers with 1-8 years old children referring to Emamshahr health care center of Yazd city participated in this study. The study subjects were randomized to either an intervention (70 subjects) or control (90subjects) group. Data was collected using Persian version of Parental Sun Protection Scale (PSPS), before and two months after performing the educational intervention program and then analyzed using SPSS 11.5 software, descriptive statistics, chi square test, t test and paired t test. Results of this study showed significant differences in mean scores of self efficacy (P
0.001), norms (P
0.001), impediments (P
0.01), and expectancies (P
0.001), in intervention group two months after performing the educational intervention program. Significant increases were also found in behaviors of using the sun protection strategies such as sun screen usage (P
0.001), protective clothing (P
0.01), and sun avoidance (P
0.007) in intervention group. There was no significant difference in mean scores of variables among control group. Discussion & The results of this study showed the applicability of educational intervention based on Social Cognitive Theory to promote sun protection behaviors in children via education of their mothers.