Sun Exposure and Skin Cancer: An Examination of Communications for Prevention on Instagram in a High-Risk Contex

Abstract

Young people are increasingly affected by skin cancer in industrialized countries around the world, such as Spain, in Europe. The incidence of skin cancer is expected to continue to increase in the coming yearsif adequatephotoprotection habits are not implemented. Social mediahave been previously studied as a tool with great potential for skin cancer awareness and prevention in the young population(Falzoneet al., 2017), so it is necessary to know and deepen the communication in these media to contribute to prevention. This paper explores these aspects in the context of the high prevalence of skin cancerin Spain. It aims to analyze the content of strategic communication of primary prevention or photoprevention disseminated on Instagram–the social mediamost used by young people(IAB Spain, 2023)–through the agenda-setting theory and the health belief model. As a result of the analysis of publications issued during the prevention campaign season in 2022, data wereobtained regarding the first-level agenda, with a prevalence of content on photoprotection (40.9%), and the second-level agenda, with a majority framing focused on the causes of skin cancer (58.1%). Likewise, the publications showeda low frequency of the health belief modelelementsrelated toskin cancer prevention, except for the action signal (49.5%).