Indoor tanning is an addictive behavior for a substantial portion of adolescents and young adults, findings in the April issue of the Archives of Dermatology suggest.
Any efforts to reduce skin cancer risk must address the addictive nature of indoor tanning for these members of the population, said Catherine E. Mosher, Ph.D., of the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, and Sharon Danoff-Burg, Ph.D., of the department of psychology at the State University of New York, Albany.
They studied the self-reported indoor tanning habits of more than 400 students at a state university in the northeastern United States. The students completed anonymous questionnaires that also detailed their substance use. They also completed the Beck Depression Inventory and the Beck Anxiety Inventory, and addictive behavior was assessed using two measures to identify substance related disorders.
Nearly 40% of the 237 students who used indoor tanning met modified Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fourth Edition, Text Revision) criteria for addiction to the behavior, they reported.
Students in this subgroup were more likely to report the recent use of two or more controlled substances (excluding alcohol), compared with those who occasionally or never used indoor tanning. A total of 42% of those who qualified as addicted to indoor tanning reported this level of substance use, compared with only 16% of the subjects who never used indoor tanning and 17% of those who occasionally did.
Students who met the criteria for addiction to indoor tanning also were approximately two times more likely to report symptoms of anxiety or depression than students who were not addicted to indoor tanning.
Taken together with the results of previous studies, these findings "suggest that individuals who use drugs may be more likely to develop dependence on indoor tanning because of a similar addictive process. In addition, tanning and drug use may be reinforced by peer group norms," the investigators wrote (Arch. Dermatol. 2010;146:412-7).
The study findings corroborate those of earlier research and extend "prior work by relating indoor tanning addiction to substance use and affective disturbance," Dr. Mosher and Dr. Danoff-Burg noted.
The results suggest that treating an underlying mood disorder "may be a necessary step in reducing skin cancer risk among those who frequently tan indoors.
"Researchers have hypothesized that those who tan regularly year round may require more intensive intervention efforts, such as motivational interviewing, relative to those who tan periodically in response to mood changes or special events," the investigators wrote.
Future studies "should evaluate the usefulness of incorporating a brief anxiety and depression screening for individuals who tan indoors," they wrote. Those found to have such symptoms can then be referred to mental health professionals for diagnosis and treatment.
This study was funded in part by the National Cancer Institute. No financial conflicts of interest were reported.