title: A social media approach to inform youth about breast cancer and smoking: an exploratory descriptive study.
abstract: Tobacco exposure during periods of breast development has been shown to increase risk of premenopausal breast cancer. An urgent need exists, therefore, to raise awareness among adolescent girls about this new evidence, and for adolescent girls and boys who smoke to understand how their smoking puts their female peers at risk for breast cancer. The purpose of this study was to develop two youth-informed, gender specific YouTube-style videos designed to raise awareness among adolescent girls and boys about tobacco exposure as a modifiable risk factor for breast cancer and to assess youths' responses to the videos and their potential for inclusion on social media platforms. Both videos consisted of a combination of moving text, novel images, animations, and youth-friendly music. A brief questionnaire was used to gather feedback on two videos using a convenience sample of 135 youth in British Columbia, Canada. The overall positive responses by girls and boys to their respective videos and their reported interest in sharing these videos via social networking suggests that this approach holds potential for other types of health promotion messaging targeting youth. The videos offer a promising messaging strategy for raising awareness about tobacco exposure as a modifiable risk factor for breast cancer. Tailored, gender-specific messages for use on social media hold the potential for cost-effective, health promotion and cancer prevention initiatives targeting youth.
authors.forename: Joan L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Bottorff
authors.forename: Laura L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Struik
authors.forename: Laura J L
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Bissell
authors.forename: Raquel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Graham
authors.forename: Jodie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Stevens
authors.forename: Chris G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Richardson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control*; D001955:British Columbia; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors; D000074606:Smoking Prevention; D061108:Social Media; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014743:Videotape Recording; D055815:Young Adult