Face-to-Face and Cyber-Victimization: A Longitudinal Study of Offline Appearance Anxiety and Online Appearance Preoccupation

Abstract

Most adolescents and young adults navigate seamlessly between offline and online social environments, and interactions in each environment brings with it opportunities for appearance concerns and preoccupation, as well as victimization and teasing about appearance. Yet, research

Videoconferencing and Appearance-Related Anxiety’s Impact on Body Dissatisfaction: An Australian Investigation

“…Collectively, more engagement in videoconferencing appearance-focused behaviours, higher appearance-related anxiety and greater time spent videoconferencing predicted higher state BD when controlling for age and gender. This is comparable to findings of Seekis et al (2020) and Zimmer-GemBeck et al (2021), where appearance anxiety, appearance behaviours and time spent engaging with photo-based media predicted BD; and also to findings concerning videoconferencing environments (Pfund et al, 2020; Pikoos et al, 2021). However, age and gender were not held constant across these studies.…”

“…However, the current findings do suggest the possibility of videoconferencing appearance-focused behaviours being a risk factor for the onset and maintenance of BD is pertinent post-COVID-19. Given the rapidly increasing prominence of videoconferencing for interpersonal, work and study communications and relationships (Zimmer-Gembeck et al, 2021), user risks of developing appearance anxiety and psychological disorders such as BD may be increased. Future research would benefit from examining appearance behaviours in clinical populations of those suffering BD and in more gender diverse samples.…”

“…For individuals diagnosed, 63% are female, and 37% are male (Hay et al, 2015). Given the social-psychological aspects of BD, the current increased reliance on videoconferencing during the COVID-19 pandemic, potentially perpetuated the development and preservation of these psychological disorders (Mabe et al, 2014; Zimmer-Gembeck et al, 2021). Photo-based media and videoconferencing communication have affected BD, with camera use doubling during COVID-19 lockdown periods (Pikoos et al, 2020; Seekis et al, 2020).…”

“…Appearance-Related Anxiety (ARA) then is an individual’s fear of their physical appearance encountering unfavourable scrutiny by others (Levinson et al, 2013; Perez-Lopez, 2004). It is a core mechanism of social anxiety disorder; a chronic mental health condition characterised by a person’s profound fear of being scrutinised in social situations (Levinson et al, 2013; Zimmer-GemBeck et al, 2021). Susceptibility to ARA experienced appears to worsen state BD (Levinson & Rodebaugh, 2015), and positively mediates the association between BD and photo-based media use (Seekis et al, 2020).…”

Cybervictimization, Offline Victimization, and Cyberbullying: The Mediating Role of the Problematic Use of Social Networking Sites in Boys and Girls

“…Specifically, victimized students find in SNSs a virtual support space beyond their geographical boundaries (Echeburúa & De Corral, 2010) where they can build their selfconfidence (Boursier & Manna, 2018), develop close and intimate relationships (Tzavela et al, 2015), and feel connected to peers by belonging to a virtual community (Etgar & Amichai-Hamburger, 2017). The problem is that this coping strategy leads the victims to become overly preoccupied with SNSs and to devote a lot of time and energy, causing them to withdraw from other life cycle activities, and thus creating attitudes of dependence and a lack of control over their behaviors that negatively impact the normal development of their daily lives (Schou Andreassen & Pallesen, 2014;Zimmer-Gembeck et al, 2021).…”