Design and Effectiveness of the Youth Engaged Strategies for Changing Adolescent Norms! (YES-CAN!) Program for Reducing Skin Cancer Risk

Adolescence is a critical period for reducing skin cancer risks, yet the development of effective interventions for middle and high school youth has lagged behind those for younger children. We developed and implemented the “Youth Engaged Strategies for Changing Adolescent Norms!” (YESCAN!) program, a school-based peer leader program that uses a youth-researcher partnership approach and a project-based curriculum to support high school students in developing and delivering short narrative videos and related material about skin cancer prevention to middle school students. Participating middle and high school students completed pre- and post-program surveys assessing skin cancer attitudes, perceived norms, and behavioral intentions. Middle school students ( N = 97) reported positive pre- to post-program changes in future intentions to engage in sun protection and reduce UV exposure behaviors and on numerous measures of normative beliefs and attitudes. High school students ( N = 13) reported positive changes on a smaller set of behavioral intentions, normative beliefs, and attitudes. These findings add to a growing body of support for youth-participatory, peer-led approaches to adolescent risk reduction in general and to skin cancer risks specifically. The YESCAN! program fills a need for effective skin cancer prevention among adolescents, while at the same time addressing educational objectives to develop 21st Century Skills.