This is the finding reported in a paper given by Dr. Frederick Gibbons of Iowa State University in a symposium on risk perception today at the European Congress of Psychology, held at the Barbican Centre in London.

In two separate studies with a total of more than 200 students, Dr. Gibbons presented half of them with photographs of their faces taken by a camera with an ultraviolet light filter.

The photos graphically depicted skin damage due to previous ultraviolet exposure from the sun and from tanning beds.

The other half received information about the dangers of UV exposure but no UV photographs. On average, 78 per cent of the students had visible damage, and 46 per cent had severe damage.

The students who saw the photos of themselves changed their attitudes towards tanning: they reported that they felt more vulnerable to aging, more negative towards tanning and towards people with tans, and less willing to sunbathe and expose themselves to the sun.

One month later, they also reported a decline in their use of sun beds. Those who did not see the UV photos did not change their attitudes and did not reduce their tanning bed exposure at all.

Dr. Gibbons said, 'Most young people know that tanning can damage their skin, but they believe the damage won't happen or be visible for quite some time, and so they don't worry about it.

"What the UV photographs do is make it very clear to them that damage has already occurred -- the behavior that they thought was improving their appearance is actually harming it -- and that has a strong effect on what they think and what they do."

03-Jul-2001