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Although rates of late-stage melanoma are rising in Hispanics, particularly those living in high ultraviolet light environments, little is known about the prevalence of sun protective behaviors in Hispanic children. We analyzed baseline data including frequency of sunburn, sun protective behaviors, level of U.S. acculturation, and skin phototype from a cross-sectional survey of 2003 Hispanic elementary school children in Los Angeles, California, who participated in a skin cancer prevention intervention. Although the Hispanic children reported frequently engaging in some sun protective behaviors, they also had a high rate of sunburn (59%) that exceeded previous national estimates for non-Hispanic white children (43%). Fewer U.S.-acculturated children reported more frequent shade-seeking at home (P = .02), along with less shade-seeking at school (P = .001) and more sunscreen use at school (P = .02). The surprisingly high rate of sunburn in Hispanic children suggests that the way in which they are practicing sun protection is not preventing sunburns. Sun safety interventions should be targeted toward Hispanic youth to provide them with practical methods of effective sun protection, in addition to education on the risks of high sun exposure., (© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Background/purpose: Rates of melanoma are rising in Hispanics in the United States. Excessive sun exposure in childhood increases the risk of melanoma in adulthood, and little is known about the factors motivating sun protection behaviors among Hispanic youth., Methods: Correlates of sun protection were examined among Hispanic children residing in Los Angeles, California (N = 1891). Associations between multiple constructs (psychosocial, familial, and cultural) and sun protection outcomes (use of sunscreen, protective clothing, and shade seeking/sun avoidance) were examined., Results: Family variables were associated with more frequent sun protection among Hispanic children across outcomes, as were perceived peer norms, perceived self-efficacy, and fewer sun protection barriers. Skin cancer risk factors such as lighter skin and sunburn experience, and level of acculturation were not associated with greater sun protection., Conclusion: Family sun protection habits are instrumental to Hispanic children's sun safe behaviors, and interventions that engage the family may be most effective. Increasing risk communication to high-risk subgroups of Hispanic children (those with lighter, more sun reactive skin) is important when developing intervention strategies. However, there is overlap between Hispanic children's sun protection correlates and those observed among non-Hispanic white children, suggesting that interventions to improve sun protection may generalize across cultural contexts., (© 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: Invasive melanoma is becoming more common in U.S. Hispanics, yet little is known about the sun protection behaviors in this population, particularly children and adolescents who incur high ultraviolet (UV) exposures., Methods: We used latent class analysis to examine patterns of sun protective behaviors in a cross-sectional survey of Hispanic elementary students participating in a sun safety intervention in Los Angeles from 2013- to 2014 (N=972). Five behavior indicators in two environments (school and home) representing multiple methods of sun protection were selected for the model., Results: Results suggested a four-class model best fit the data. Classes were labeled in order of increasing risk as multiple protective behaviors (28%), clothing and shade (32%), pants only (15%), and low/inconsistent protective behaviors (25%). Children who reported high parental engagement with sun protection were significantly more likely to be classified in high overall protective categories (odds ratio (OR)=4.77). Girls were more likely than boys to be classified in the highest protecting class (OR=3.46), but were also more likely to be in the "pants only" class (OR=2.65). Sensitivity to sunburn was associated with less likelihood of being in the "clothing and shade" class (OR=0.53)., Conclusion: The differences among these classes and their predictors reveal the heterogeneity and complexity of Hispanic children's sun protective behaviors. These findings have implications for the design and delivery of future sun protection interventions targeting Hispanic children, as strategies tailored to specific subgroups may be more effective in achieving meaningful behavioral changes., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Abstract: The role of cultural assimilation in Hispanic health behavior has received little empirical examination. Prior studies have operationalized assimilation primarily in terms of language preference and have obtained weak or no effects. We interviewed 603 elderly Hispanic women residing in Los Angeles to evaluate the usefulness of cultural factors as predictors of preventive health behavior (e.g.. physical examination, screening for breast cancer) more rigorously. Factor analysis of responses yielded four dimensions of cultural assimilation: "language preference". "country of birth". "contact with homeland", and "attitudes about children's friends." After controlling for education and age, no dimension of assimilation associated strongly or consistently with health behavior. Of the four dimensions, use of English language associated most closely with increased screening, although most of the effects for language were small in magnitude. These findings, coupled with those of other studies strongly suggest that cultural factors may have little impact on the health behavior of Hispanics. Access to and availability of services, affective reactions toward screening, and sociodemographic factors are stronger determinants of Hispanic health practices. (Am J Public Health 1987:77:1115-1319.) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children are a priority population for skin cancer prevention as excessive sun exposure in childhood increases the risk of melanoma in adulthood. The complexity of sun protective behaviors has posed measurement challenges for trials testing intervention efficacy. The current study evaluated a sun safety intervention for schoolchildren using latent transition analysis (LTA) to examine patterns of sun protection behaviors over time. A three-armed randomized controlled trial was conducted between 2012 and 2016 with two intervention groups (N = 3368) and an observation-only control group (N = 342) among 4th and 5th graders from 24 public schools in Los Angeles County. Both interventions conditions were grouped and compared to controls. Five self-reported sun protective behaviors were measured at baseline and three-month follow-up: use of sunscreen, long sleeves, long pants, hats, and shade seeking. Participants comprised 3710 schoolchildren, mean age 9 years, 47% female and 69% Latino. At baseline, four patterns of sun protection behaviors were found: children who engaged in 1) all sun protective behaviors; 2) few protective behaviors; 3) protective clothing and shade only; and 4) hats only. Children in the control group were likely to remain in their baseline status or transition to a less protective status at three-month follow-up. By contrast, 30% of children in the intervention group transitioned to a more protective status at follow-up. In this RCT of a sun safety intervention, children in the intervention transitioned to more protective behaviors compared to controls. Using LTA enriches understanding of intervention efficacy by modeling the complexity of sun protection behaviors over time. TRIAL REGISTRATION: School-based Randomized Trial of SunSmart Interventions, ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04176237 https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04176237?cond=School-based+Randomized+Trial+of+SunSmart+Interventions&draw=2&rank=1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]