Prevalence and correlates of tattooing in Norway: A large‐scale cross‐sectional study

Abstract

To our knowledge, no previous large-scale study has examined the prevalences and correlates of having only easily concealed tattoos, or readily visible tattoos. We conducted an exploratory online survey in Norway asking 15,654 (6,151 females) persons aged 16-91 (m = 33.65 ± 12.27) about various demographic, sports, substance use, mental health, personality, and tattooing questions. The estimated prevalence of tattooing was 20.8% (females: 23.8%, males: 17.9%), of which 13.3% had readily visible tattoos. Results of multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that females, being older than 19 years, higher body mass index, lifetime anabolic-androgenic steroid use (AAS), and higher scores on extraversion were associated with higher odds of having a tattoo. Factors associated with higher odds of having only easily concealed tattoos were being 40-49 (versus those ≤ 19) years old, being only high school or tertiary (versus being only primary school) educated, often or not (versus always) exercising in a gymnasium, and high scores on agreeableness. Females, and higher scores on extraversion and neuroticism were associated with higher odds of having at least one readily visible tattoo. Our findings delineate the significance of demographic variables, gymnasium exercise, AAS, and personality in the practice of tattooing.

Personality and willingness towards performance enhancement and body modification: A cross-sectional survey of a nationally representative sample of Norwegians

“…Our finding associating males with higher willingness towards performance enhancement and females with higher willingness towards body modification is consistent with our previous finding (25). It is also in line with the preponderance of literature on gender/sex differences in performance enhancement (6,7) and body modification (29,30). Additionally, our finding that younger persons show higher willingness towards performance enhancement and body modification corroborates previous findings (26,37) and the perspective that human enhancement is an element or fountain of contemporary youth culture and identity (1,10,38).…”

“…In line with the stimulation (20) theory of tattooing (21), and evidence that higher scores on extraversion predict higher odds of having a tattoo (29) or contemplating getting a body piercing (40), we found that higher extraversion is associated with higher willingness towards body modification. An explanation for this finding is that higher scores on excitement/sensation seeking, a facet of extraversion (19), have been associated with a higher tendency towards body modification (11,39).…”

Anabolic-androgenic steroid users receiving health-related information; health problems, motivations to quit and treatment desires

“…Subpopulations such as former power elite athletes [8, 9], recreational athletes [4], injecting drug users [10, 11] and arrestees/prisoners [12, 13] report higher lifetime AAS use than the general population. In Norway, life time AAS use is estimated to be about 2–3% among men and less than 1% among women [14] and current AAS use is found to be 0.6% in an online survey of self-selected participants [15].…”

Adverse reactions to tattoos in the general population of Denmark

“…Our study suggests that tattooing is becoming more mainstream, which is in-line with previous literature. 2 We show that 5.9% of tattooed individuals report adverse reactions, which is high considering our focus on well-defined clinical symptoms. Potentially this restricted range of reactions from our questionnaire was a study limitation, resulting in an underestimation of the prevalence of tattoo-associated problems.…”