Coss, Miranda (2018) The Effects of Fatalism and Consideration of Future Consequences on Skin Cancer Prevention and Early Detection. Honours thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
Australia has a high prevalence of skin cancer, with an estimated 750,000 people receiving treatment and over 2000 deaths annually. Skin cancer is preventable through sun safe behaviours such as seeking shade between 10am and 3pm, wearing protective clothing, and using 50+ SPF sunscreen. Also, early detection through screening for skin cancer can substantially reduce the risk of cancer spreading. Literature suggests that there is room for improvement in the sun safety and screening behaviours of Australian adults, with many people failing to engage in these behaviours. Attitudes and beliefs such as a person’s consideration for future consequences and fatalism have been consistently associated with poor health behaviours such as smoking and heart disease, poor exercise and nutrition and reduced cancer screening. However, there is limited research on the impact they have on skin cancer related health behaviours, especially within Australia. This research aims to investigate whether these traits are associated with sun safety behaviour and screening for skin cancer in Australian adults and tests whether considerations for future consequences mediates the relationship between fatalism and preventative sun safe behaviours. The sample consists of 427 Australian adults over 50 years of age who completed the Australian 50 and over self-report survey, evaluating their current sun safety behaviour and regularity of skin cancer screening. In the sample, 53.6% of participants did not screen for skin cancer regularly. CFC was positively associated with sun safe behaviours F(2, 409) = 10.473, p < .001. Fatalism was negatively associated with sun safe behaviours F(2, 409) = 10.287, p < .001. For skin cancer screening only, CFC was a significant predictor, with participation increasing by nearly 60% for each unit increase in CFC [Exp (B) = 1.634, 95% CI (1.168 – 2.285)]. Mediation analyses showed that CFC partially mediated the effect of fatalism on sun safe behaviours β = -.60, SE = .26, R2 = .05, F(2, 406) = 10.57, p < .05. The results of this study suggest that future intervention strategies should target fatalistic thinking by promoting EFFECTS OF FATALISM AND CFC ON SKIN CANCER PREVENTION 5 the immediate benefits of preventative skin cancer behaviours, thus influencing people’s consideration of short-term behaviours. Future research may benefit from identifying the mechanism through which CFC and fatalism affects preventative skin cancer behaviours in longitudinal research.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Honours) |
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| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Historic - Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Psychology and Counselling (1 Jan 2015 - 31 Dec 2021) |
| Supervisors: | Sonja March; Belinda Goodwin |
| Qualification: | Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) |
| Date Deposited: | 19 Aug 2025 03:20 |
| Last Modified: | 19 Aug 2025 03:20 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Skin cancer, fatalism, consideration for future consequences, sun safety prevention, skin cancer screening, mediation, regression analysis. |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1799 Other Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 179999 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5299 Other psychology > 529999 Other psychology not elsewhere classified |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/52233 |
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