Abstract:
Background: The recent increase in social media use has been associated with body checking and body image dissatisfaction. This association has been attributed to the high prevalence of unrealistic images of beauty or masculinity on these platforms.
Aim: The present study aimed to assess the association of body checking with active and passive social media use, and how self-esteem, emotional eating, and stress could modulate it.
Methods: An observational, cross-sectional survey-based design was used. Participants (n = 423, 18-50 years old of both genders), filled a questionnaire measuring body checking, social media use, self-esteem, perceived stress and emotional eating.
Results: Instagram was the most used social media platform in the surveyed sample. Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok, and Twitter were associated with increased body checking whereas Facebook Messenger, LinkedIn, and YouTube were not. Also, results showed a positive correlation between body checking with active social media use, number of online friends/followers and one’s interaction with them, as well as emotional eating and stress. Furthermore, a negative correlation was found between body checking and self-esteem. Regression analyses showed that perceived stress, education, active social media use, and emotional eating helped explain 31.8 % of the variation in body checking. However, self-esteem, gender, and the number of online friends and their interaction with them lost significance. Additionally, the most significant variable in explaining the variation in body checking was emotional eating.
Conclusion: Body checking frequency is positively associated with active social media use, high stress levels, and most importantly emotional eating. Additionally, the protective role of self-esteem on body checking may be buffered by active social media use, emotional eating, and stress. That being said, interventions regulating social media content to limit the spread of unrealistic beauty standards and media literacy campaigns educating people may be helpful to decrease body checking behaviors thus decreasing the risk of body image dissatisfaction and disordered eating.
