Funding for the present study was provided by the FIU Mine Üçer Women in Science Fund. The authors want to give a special thanks to Hannah Schindler and Natalia Gutierrez who aided in the intensive data collection process for the current study, and Natalia Martinez for her help assembling the final submission.
The current study aimed to integrate and test the sociocultural model of disordered eating with theories explaining the impact of mass media on the development of disordered eating for users of three popular social networking platforms. Young women social networking site (SNS) users (age 18-24) who had never received an eating disorder diagnosis (N = 637) completed questions capturing their SNS gratifications and usage, body surveillance, social comparisons, body dissatisfaction, and eating pathology. Measures were administered in one online session. Model relationships were similar across users of all three SNS platforms: Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. Users of all platforms demonstrated a significant positive relationship between upward comparisons and disordered eating outcomes, and between body surveillance and disordered eating outcomes, although differences between models did emerge. Empirical findings support extending the sociocultural model of disordered eating to include SNS uses and gratifications.
Objective
The network theory of psychopathology examines networks of interconnections across symptoms. Several network studies of disordered eating have identified central and bridge symptoms in Western samples, yet network models of disordered eating have not been tested in non‐Western samples. The current study tested a network model of disordered eating in Iranian adolescents and college students, as well as models of co‐occurring depression and self‐esteem.
Method
Participants were Iranian college students (n= 637) and adolescents (n = 1,111) who completed the Eating Disorder Examination‐Questionnaire (EDE‐Q), Rosenberg Self‐Esteem Scale (RSES) and Beck Depression Inventory, Second Edition (BDI‐II). We computed six Glasso networks and identified central and bridge symptoms.
Results
Central disordered eating nodes in most models were a desire to lose weight and discomfort when seeing one's own body. Central self‐esteem and depression nodes were feeling useless and self‐dislike, respectively. Feeling like a failure was the most common bridge symptom between disordered eating and depression symptoms. With exception of a few differences in some edges, networks did not significantly differ in structure.
Discussion
Desire to lose weight was the most central node in the networks, which is consistent with sociocultural theories of disordered eating development, as well as prior network models from Western‐culture samples. Feeling like a failure was the most central bridge symptom between depression and disordered eating, suggesting that very low self‐esteem may be a shared correlate or risk factor for disordered eating and depression in Iranian adolescents and young adults.
Objective: Few studies of eating disorder (ED) symptoms among young people in Iran have been conducted. This cross-sectional study examined ED symptoms, assessed by the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q). Method: Adolescent boys (n = 498) and girls (n = 607) aged 12-19 years, recruited from schools in four different regions of Iran, completed a survey that included the EDE-Q. ED symptoms, namely, EDE-Q global scores and the occurrence of specific ED behaviors, were compared between boys and girls. Results: Girls had higher global scores and were more likely to report regular extreme dietary restriction than boys (16.6 vs. 12.0%). The effect sizes for these differences were small. The regular occurrence of other behaviors (girls vs. boys-binge eating: 21.1 vs. 18.8%; self-induced vomiting: 3.3 vs. 5.4%; laxative misuse: 6.1 vs. 7.6%; excessive exercise: 5.3 vs. 4.4%) did not significantly differ by gender. Twelve percent of boys and 12.9% of girls met criteria for an operational definition of "probable ED case." Conclusion: ED symptoms appear to be relatively common among Iranian adolescent boys and girls. Programs designed to reduce the occurrence and adverse impact of these symptoms may therefore be increasingly important.
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