title: Adolescent egocentrism and indoor tanning: is the relationship direct or mediated?
abstract: This paper explored how imaginary audience and personal fable ideations contribute to adolescent indoor tanning intentions directly and indirectly through the way they shape pro-tanning attitude and association with peers who use tanning beds. Five hundred and ninety-five male (n= 207) and female (n= 387) adolescents, ranging in age from 11 to 19 (M= 16.87; SD = 1.34) years completed a cross-sectional survey. Measures included imaginary audience, personal fable (three dimensions: invulnerability, uniqueness, and omnipotence), pro-tanning attitude, association with peers who use tanning beds, and tanning bed use intentions. Bootstrapping analyses documented that imaginary audience ideations are indirectly associated with indoor tanning intentions through the mediation of pro-tanning attitude and association with peers who use tanning beds. Of the personal fable ideations, only invulnerability ideation is indirectly associated with indoor tanning intentions through the mediation of association with peers who use tanning beds. Design and evaluation of interventions and campaigns to reduce indoor tanning must be targeted to adolescents varying in imaginary audience ideations differently.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Smita C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Banerjee
authors.affiliation: Department of Communication, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA.
authors.forename: Kathryn
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Greene
authors.affiliation: Department of Communication, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA.
authors.forename: Itzhak
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Yanovitzky
authors.affiliation: Communication and Health Issues Partnership for Education and Research, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA.
authors.forename: Zhanna
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Bagdasarov
authors.affiliation: Department of Communication, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA.
authors.forename: Soe Yoon
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Department of Communication, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Kate
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Magsamen-Conrad
keywords: association with peers; attitude toward tanning beds; egocentrism; imaginary audience; indoor tanning; personal fable; tanning intentions