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Reducing social media use significantly improves body image in teens and young adults.

Various social media app icons on a smartphone screen

Adolescence is a time of life marked by many social, emotional, and physical changes. It is also a period of vulnerability for developing body image issues, eating disorders, and mental health problems. Researchers at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, led by Gary Goldfield, Ph.D., recently conducted a study that suggests that reducing social media use might be an effective way to address these issues.

Social media has become ubiquitous in today’s world, with teens and young adults spending, on average, between six and eight hours per day on screens, much of it on social media. Through this exposure, a large number of images and photos are viewed every day, including those of celebrities, fashion models, and fitness models, which can lead to an internalization of beauty ideals that are unattainable for almost everyone, resulting in greater dissatisfaction with body weight and shape.

The researchers were interested in understanding whether reducing social media use might help improve body image and other aspects of mental health among young people. They conducted a study involving 220 undergraduate students aged 17-25 who were regular social media users (at least two hours per day on their smartphones) and exhibited symptoms of depression or anxiety. The study, published in Psychology of Popular Media, required participants to reduce their social media use to no more than 60 minutes per day for three weeks.

For the first week of the study, all participants were instructed to use social media as they normally would. Social media use was measured using a screentime tracking program to which participants provided a daily screenshot. After the first week, half the participants were instructed to reduce their social media use to no more than 60 minutes per day. At the start and end of the study, participants also responded to a series of statements about their overall appearance and weight on a 5-point scale.

Participants who reduced their social media use had a significant improvement in how they regarded both their overall appearance and body weight after the three-week intervention, compared with the control group, who saw no significant change. Gender did not appear to make any difference in the effects.

“Our brief, four-week intervention using screentime trackers showed that reducing social media use yielded significant improvements in appearance and weight esteem in distressed youth with heavy social media use. Reducing social media use is a feasible method of producing a short-term positive effect on body image among a vulnerable population of users and should be evaluated as a potential component in the treatment of body-image-related disturbances.”

Although the study was conducted as a proof of concept, Goldfield and his colleagues are in the process of conducting a larger study to see if reduction in social media use can be maintained for longer periods and whether that reduction can lead to even greater psychological benefits.

The study has several implications for health care providers, educators, and parents. It underscores the importance of limiting screen time for young people, especially those who are vulnerable to developing body image and mental health issues. It also highlights the need for parents and educators to discuss healthy body image with young people and to help them develop a positive sense of self-worth that is not dependent on social media. By working together, we can help young people develop a healthy sense of self and improve their mental and emotional well-being.

Image Credits

In-Article Image Credits

Various social media app icons on a smartphone screen via Wikimedia Commons by Lobo Studio Hamburg with usage type - Creative Commons License. March 23, 2014

Featured Image Credit

Various social media app icons on a smartphone screen via Wikimedia Commons by Lobo Studio Hamburg with usage type - Creative Commons License. March 23, 2014

 

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