March 22 (iVillage Total Health) -- Could you be addicted to tanning? Dermatologists say just as some people are addicted to alcohol, drugs or shopping, others may not be able to control the urge to tan their bodies.

In a report published in the March issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, researchers found that some college students may be addicted to ultraviolet (UV) light -- the main cause of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer. An addiction is a compulsive emotional and/or psychological dependence on a substance, such as drugs or alcohol, or an activity, such as gambling, eating or sex, regardless of potential harm.

Researchers from the University of Washington in Seattle studied 385 male and female students enrolled at the school. Participants were asked to describe their tanning practices by filling out a multiple-choice questionnaire.

Researchers also used a shortened version of a tool commonly employed to gauge alcohol abuse -- the cut down, annoyed, guilty, eye-opener (CAGE) questionnaire -- to determine if students exhibited signs of substance-related disorder (SRD) toward UV light. The questions asked if students had ever felt they should cut back on tanning frequency, if others had annoyed them by criticizing their tanning habits, if students have felt guilty about tanning and if they ever thought about tanning when they awaken in the morning.

"Numerous studies have shown that increased knowledge of the dangers of overexposure to UV light often fails to change tanning behavior and attitudes, especially among high-risk age groups such as adolescents and young adults," Dr. Robin L. Hornung, a dermatologist at the University of Washington, said in a press release. "We also know from previous experiments that UV light causes endorphin release, similar to the euphoric sensation associated with intense exercise commonly referred to as 'runner's high' or other pleasure-seeking behavior. Our study set out to find whether certain individuals, particularly those who classify themselves as frequent tanners, exhibit addictive behaviors toward tanning."

The results were that 76 percent of female students indicated they deliberately tanned their skin compared to 59 percent of male students who did so. The women were also more likely to use indoor tanning devices (42 percent) compared to the men (17 percent).

Twelve percent of the students overall, 18 percent of those who said they regularly tanned outdoors in sunlight and 28 percent of those who used indoor tanners scored high on the CAGE questions - indicating possible addiction to UV light. The study showed that students who said they used indoor tanning devices were more likely to score in the UV addiction range than students who did not use indoor devices.

Researchers also asked participants about their family histories of skin cancer. They found that students who reported a family history of skin cancer were significantly more likely to engage in tanning than students without family histories of the disease. Seventy-seven percent of the students with family histories of skin cancer said they deliberately tanned their skin outdoors and 45 percent said they used indoor tanning devices. Hornung said that almost half of the students who tan (41 percent) said they tanned to relax -- a phenomenon that parallels addictive practices.

Added Hornung: "If tanning is addictive as our study suggests, it helps explain why education alone will probably not stop high-risk tanning behavior - similar to how the 'don't drink' and 'don't smoke' messages often fail to change behaviors."

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