Cognitive rationalizations for tanning-bed use: a preliminary exploration.

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.