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Article
An Initial Study of Behavioral Addiction Symptom Severity and Demand for Indoor Tanning
Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology
  • Amel Becirevic, University of Kansas
  • Derek D. Reed, University of Kansas
  • Michael Amlung, McMaster University
  • James G. Murphy, University of Memphis
  • Jerod L. Stapleton, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey
  • Joel J. Hillhouse, East Tennessee State University
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
10-1-2017
Description

Indoor tanning remains a popular activity in Western cultures despite a growing body of literature suggesting its link to skin cancer and melanoma. Advances in indoor tanning research have illuminated problematic patterns of its use. With problems such as difficulty quitting, devoting resources toward its use at the expense of healthy activities, and excessive motivation and urges to tan, symptoms of excessive indoor tanning appear consistent with behavioral addiction. The present study bridges the gap between clinical approaches to understanding indoor tanning problems and behavioral economic considerations of unhealthy habits and addiction. Eighty undergraduate females completed both the Behavioral Addiction Indoor Tanning Screener and the Tanning Purchase Task. Results suggest that behavioral economic demand for tanning significantly differs between risk classification groups, providing divergent validity to the Behavioral Addiction Indoor Tanning Screener and offering additional evidence of the sensitivity of the Tanning Purchase Task to differentiating groups according to tanning profiles.

Citation Information
Amel Becirevic, Derek D. Reed, Michael Amlung, James G. Murphy, et al.. "An Initial Study of Behavioral Addiction Symptom Severity and Demand for Indoor Tanning" Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology Vol. 25 Iss. 5 (2017) p. 346 - 352 ISSN: 1064-1297
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/joel-hillhouse/46/