The Effect of the Education Base on Social Cognitive Theory on Promotion of Sun Protective Behaviors

Introduction: It is estimated that 80% of sunlight exposure occurs before the age of 21. The aim of this study was to promote sunlight protective behaviors in 12-18 years old teenagers through mothers’ education based on Social-Cognitive Theory (SCT).

Methods: The present research is a double-blind pre-experimental study. Participants were 66 mothers and 66 teenagers (of 12-18 year-old) randomly assigned into experimental and control (n=33). Data from mothers was collected using a Social-Cognitive Theory-based questionnaire. Also, data from the teens was gathered through a self-made questionnaire on sunlight protective behaviors. The data were collected in three steps and analyzed through SPSS software (version 16) using descriptive and analytical test methods.                                                                                                    Results: According to the results, a significant difference was observed between the mean scores of mothers’ Social-Cognitive Theory-based variables and teens' performance in the experimental group three months after the training intervention (p<0.001).  However, concerning the targeted variables in the control group no significant differences were found.                           Conclusion: The results of this study show the effectiveness of training intervention based on Social-Cognitive Theory on promoting sunlight protective behaviors of teens through training their mothers. Also, through increasing awareness of the expected consequences of the sunlight protective behaviors, perceived barriers can be reduced and the ground for promoting the sunlight protective behaviors among teens can be created.