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Psychosocial Mediators of a Nurse Intervention to Increase Skin Self-examination in Patients at High Risk for Melanoma

¹ Behavioral Sciences Service and ² Dermatology Service, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York

Requests for reprints: Jennifer Hay, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, 641 Lexington Avenue, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10022. Phone: 646-888-0039; E-mail: hayj{at}mskcc.org.

This prospective study examines psychosocial mediators of an efficacious skin self-examination (SSE) intervention that includes provision of a whole-body digital photography book depicting the entire skin surface. Individuals (n = 100) with established risk factors for melanoma were recruited from the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Pigmented Lesion Clinic during their initial dermatologist visit and were randomized to receive a photobook immediately (n = 49) or 4 months after intervention delivery (n = 51). Potential mediators included self-efficacy and response efficacy drawn from Social Cognitive Theory, melanoma worry, and SSE anxiety drawn from Self-Regulation Theory, and skin cancer knowledge, and skin awareness. Only self-efficacy was a significant mediator, accounting for 8% of the total effect of photobook enhancement on SSE adherence at 4 months. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2006;15(6):1212–6)