Good Parenting Relationship Leads to Higher Sun-Safe Behaviors

The August 2006 issue of the Archives of Dermatology reports that parents can encourage sun-safe behaviors in their children by discussing skin cancer risks, and by modeling appropriate sun-safe behaviors. Teaching children how to be safe in the sun does have positive effects.

These teachings work best when the parent and child already have a close relationship.

This study, completed at Pennsylvania State University, included 469 parent-child pairs and focused on a parent-based intervention program designed to teach kids sun safe behaviors.

The children in the study were between the ages of 9-12 years.

After the study, the children who talked with their parents about sun safety received fewer sunburns than those who did not talk with their parents about this issue. Researchers tied this, directly, to the effects of parenting which encouraged sun safe behaviors.

When a parent fosters good communication with a child, the child is more likely to adopt healthy sun safe behaviors.