Social media use and body image issues among adolescents in a vulnerable Louisiana community

Abstract

Widespread concern has been expressed regarding unrealistic body image and adolescent eating disorder promoting content on social media (SM) platforms. Numerous research studies have examined the impact of SM on body image as well as social vulnerability on negative mental health outcomes. Despite this, few previous studies have examined the impact of SM on body image specifically in vulnerable, underserved, or predominantly minority communities. This study examines the impact of SM on body image issues (BII) in adolescents in a public school system where greater than 50% of the students live in impoverished households. In late 2019, high school student leaders in Northwest Louisiana developed a survey alongside Step Forward, a collective impact initiative. Questions investigated adolescent SM use and mental health in Caddo Parish, namely BII. Teachers within Caddo Parish Public School System administered the survey. Out of the 11,248 total high school students in the school system, nearly 50% were sampled for a sample size of 5,070. Hypotheses included: (1) females were more likely to use SM than males, (2) increasing time spent on SM would correlate with females reporting BII, with males remaining largely unaffected, and (3) highly visual social media (HVSM) platforms would be associated with greater reports of BII than non-HVSM platforms. Results showed females were more likely to use SM (p < 0.001) and report BII (p < 0.001) compared to males, while both sexes reported BII with increasing time spent on SM (p < 0.001). A diversity of platforms were associated with increased BII among SM users compared to non-users (p < 0.001): Pinterest, Reddit, Snapchat, TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube. This conclusion is tempered by the omission of race as a variable in the study design, the use of self-report, and the use of an unvalidated instrument. These findings suggest that the harmful association between SM use and BII may transcend culture and socioeconomic status for a broadly deleterious effect on adolescent mental wellbeing.

Associations between Highly Visual Social Media Use and Eating Disorders and Disordered Eating– A Changing Landscape

“…A study from Louisiana observed that females were more likely to use SM (p < 0.001) and report body image issues (p < 0.001) compared to males. However, body dissatisfaction corelated with increased time spent on SM across genders (p < 0.001) (39).…”

Scrolls and self-perception, navigating the link between social networks and body dissatisfaction in preadolescents and adolescents: a systematic review

“…The MMMT (Hong et al, 2018) assessed six studies as moderate quality (Ferguson et al, 2014;Meier and Gray, 2014;Tiggemann and Slater, 2014;Brajdić Vuković et al, 2018;Mesce et al, 2022;Sagrera et al, 2022) and ten studies as strong quality (De Vries et al, 2014, 2016Ho et al, 2016;Kaewpradub et al, 2017;Chang et al, 2019;Boursier et al, 2020;Fardouly et al, 2020;Çimke and Yıldırım Gürkan, 2023;Digennaro and Iannaccone, 2023;Martinac Dorčić et al, 2023). Overall, the selected studies set out their research aims and methodologies clearly.…”

Gambaran Citra Tubuh Remaja Perempuan Indonesia

“…Sedangkan dari 7 responden yang mengakses media sosial lebih dari 15 jam per hari, 14,3% di antaranya memiliki citra tubuh yang rendah. Hal ini sejalan dengan hasil penelitian yang dilakukan di sebelumnya terhadap siswa sekolah menengah bahwa siswa yang menggunakan media sosial lebih dari 2 jam stiap hari memiliki peluang 1,59 kali lebih besar untuk mengalami isu citra tubuh dibandingkan dengan mereka yang menggunakan kurang dari 2 jam setiap hari [18]. Gambaran citra tubuh berdasarkan jenis media sosial dapat dilihat pada Tabel 5.…”

“…Sedangkan pada hasil penelitian sebelumnya ditemukan bahwa YouTube, TikTok, dan Snapchat secara statistik menunjukkan pengaruh yang signifikan terhadap isu citra tubuh, di mana citra tubuh di dapatkan dari banyaknya postingan, tayangan yang terdapat pada berbagai media sosial tersebut, yang juga mempengaruhi pandangan masyarakat sekitarnya khususnya pada remaja [18]. Berbeda dengan hasil penelitian tersebut, kelompok responden yang mengakses Snapchat mayoritas memiliki citra tubuh pada kategori sedang (53,8%).…”