Development and validation of an appearance motivation attitudes scale for sun protection Academic Article

abstract

• A reliable two-factor instrument measuring appearance motivation attitudes for sun protection was developed using a longitudinal sample of beachgoers. At baseline, data on sun protection and appearance motivation attitudes were collected on 2324 individuals. Principal components analyses (PCA) indicated a two-factor solution measuring attitudes toward tan attractiveness and skin protection with only 2 items loading on the skin protection factor. At 12-months, the instrument was revised and shortened but including 3 new skin protection items. Split-half analyses were conducted to further refine and develop the instrument. PCA on half of the sample revealed a two-factor solution, which was confirmed using structural equation modeling on the remaining half. This resulted in a two correlated-factor, 10-item measure. Each factor was summed to create two scales. Both scales were internally consistent and demonstrated good external validity, correlating with sun protection specific Transtheoretical model variables. The tan attractiveness attitudes scale significantly improved prediction of sun protection outcomes over 24 months, over and above TTM variables.

authors

• Maddock, Jay

published proceedings

• PSYCHOLOGY & HEALTH

author list (cited authors)

• Maddock, J. E., Redding, C. A., Rossi, J. S., & Weinstock, M. A.

citation count

• 21

complete list of authors

• Maddock, JE||Redding, CA||Rossi, JS||Weinstock, MA

publication date

• December 2005

publisher

• Taylor & Francis  Publisher

published in

• Psychology and Health: an international journal  Journal

keywords

• Behavior Change
• Measurement Development
• Skin Cancer
• Sun Protection
• Transtheoretical Model

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

• 10.1080/14768320500165944

start page

• 775

end page

• 788

volume

• 20

issue

• 6

URL

• http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14768320500165944