Motivations to use, and to stop use of, tanning beds among sexual-minority men: A qualitative study

Background: Sexual-minority men, defined as gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men, are more likely than heterosexual men to report using tanning beds in the past 12 months. Furthermore, self-reported lifetime prevalence of melanoma is twice as high among sexual minority men compared with heterosexual men. A recent study of 14–35-year-old sexual-minority men in San Diego, California, assessed motivations to, and not to, indoor tan using an online survey methodology. Motivations to indoor tan in that study included appearance reasons, sociocultural pressures, and affect regulation.