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Cognitive rationalizations for tanning-bed use: a preliminary exploration
Smita C Banerjee1, Jennifer L Hay, Kathryn Greene
1Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA. banerjes@mskcc.org
Objectives:
To examine construct and predictive utility of an adapted cognitive rationalization scale for tanning-bed use.
Methods:
Current/former tanning-bedusing undergraduate students (N = 216; 87.6% females; 78.4% white) at a large northeastern university participated in a survey. A cognitive rationalization for tanning-bed use scale was adapted. Standardized self-report measures of past tanning-bed use, advantages of tanning, perceived vulnerability to photoaging, tanning-bed use dependence, and tanning-bed use intention were also administered.
Results:
The cognitive rationalization scale exhibited strong construct and predictive validity. Current tanners and tanning-bed-use-dependent participants endorsed rationalizations more strongly than did former tanners and not-tanning-bed-use-dependent participants respectively.
Conclusions:
Findings indicate that cognitive rationalizations help explain discrepancy between inconsistent cognitions.
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