Predicting Australian adults' sun-safe behaviour: examining the role of personal and social norms.

OBJECTIVES

To address the scarcity of comprehensive, theory-based research in the Australian context, this study, using a theory of planned behaviour (TPB) framework, investigated the role of personal and social norms to identify the key predictors of adult Australians' sun-safe intentions and behaviour.

DESIGN

The study used a prospective design with two waves of data collection, 1 week apart.

METHODS

Participants were 816 adults (48.2% men) aged between 18 and 88 years recruited from urban, regional, and rural areas of Australia. At baseline, participants completed a questionnaire assessing the standard TPB predictors (attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioural control [PBC]), past behaviour, behavioural intention, and additional measures of group norm for the referent groups of friends and family, image norm, personal norm, personal choice/responsibility, and Australian identity. Seventy-one per cent of the participants (n = 577) reported on their sun-safe behaviour in the subsequent week.

RESULTS

Via path modelling, past behaviour, attitude, group norm (friends), personal norm, and personal choice/responsibility emerged as independent predictors of intentions which, in turn, predicted sun-safe behaviour prospectively. Past behaviour, but not PBC, had direct effects on sun-safe behaviour. The model explained 61.6% and 43.9% of the variance in intention and behaviour, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

This study provides support for the use of a comprehensive theoretical decision-making model to explain Australian adults' sun-safe intentions and behaviours and identifies viable targets for health-promoting messages in this high-risk context. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Identifying determinants of sun-safe behaviour is vital in high-risk cancer areas like Australia. For young Australians, friendship group norm is a key influence of intentions and behaviour. Little is known about drivers of sun safety, especially norms, among Australian adults in general. What does this study add? This study drew on qualitative data and reconceptualized norms for Australians' sun-safe decisions. Friendship group norm and personal norm, not family group norm, influence sun-safe intentions. Perceived responsibility and choice to be sun safe also impact on people's intentions.