Social Media, Thin-Ideal, Body Dissatisfaction and Disordered Eating Attitudes: An Exploratory Analysis

doi:10.3390/ijerph16214177

. 2019 Oct 29;16(21):4177.

doi: 10.3390/ijerph16214177.

Social Media, Thin-Ideal, Body Dissatisfaction and Disordered Eating Attitudes: An Exploratory Analysis

Pilar Aparicio-Martinez^{1

2

3}, Alberto-Jesus Perea-Moreno⁴, María Pilar Martinez-Jimenez⁵, María Dolores Redel-Macías⁶, Claudia Pagliari⁷, Manuel Vaquero-Abellan⁸

Affiliations

¹ Departamento de Enfermería, Universidad de Córdoba, Campus de Menéndez Pidal, 1470 Córdoba, Spain. n32apmap@uco.es.
² Usher Institute of Population Health Sciences and Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9YL, UK. n32apmap@uco.es.
³ Grupo Investigación epidemiológica en Atención primaria (GC-12) del Instituto Maimónides de Investigación Biomédica de Córdoba (IMIBIC), Hospital Universitario Reina Sofía, 14071 Córdoba, Spain. n32apmap@uco.es.
⁴ Departamento de Física Aplicada, Universidad de Córdoba, ceiA3, Campus de Rabanales, 14071 Córdoba, Spain. aperea@uco.es.
⁵ Departamento de Física Aplicada, Universidad de Córdoba, ceiA3, Campus de Rabanales, 14071 Córdoba, Spain. fa1majip@uco.es.
⁶ Departamento Ingeniería Rural, Ed Leonardo da Vinci, Campus de Rabanales, Universidad de Córdoba, Campus de Excelencia Internacional Agroalimentario, ceiA3, 1470 Cordoba, Spain. mdredel@uco.es.
⁷ eHealth Research Group, Usher Institute of Population Health Sciences and Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9YL, UK. claudia.pagliari@ed.ac.uk.
⁸ Grupo Investigación epidemiológica en Atención primaria (GC-12) del Instituto Maimónides de Investigación Biomédica de Córdoba (IMIBIC), Hospital Universitario Reina Sofía, 14071 Córdoba, Spain. mvaquero@uco.es.

PMID: 31671857
PMCID: PMC6861923
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph16214177

Social Media, Thin-Ideal, Body Dissatisfaction and Disordered Eating Attitudes: An Exploratory Analysis

Pilar Aparicio-Martinez et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019.

. 2019 Oct 29;16(21):4177.

doi: 10.3390/ijerph16214177.

Authors

Pilar Aparicio-Martinez^{1

2

3}, Alberto-Jesus Perea-Moreno⁴, María Pilar Martinez-Jimenez⁵, María Dolores Redel-Macías⁶, Claudia Pagliari⁷, Manuel Vaquero-Abellan⁸

Affiliations

¹ Departamento de Enfermería, Universidad de Córdoba, Campus de Menéndez Pidal, 1470 Córdoba, Spain. n32apmap@uco.es.
² Usher Institute of Population Health Sciences and Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9YL, UK. n32apmap@uco.es.
³ Grupo Investigación epidemiológica en Atención primaria (GC-12) del Instituto Maimónides de Investigación Biomédica de Córdoba (IMIBIC), Hospital Universitario Reina Sofía, 14071 Córdoba, Spain. n32apmap@uco.es.
⁴ Departamento de Física Aplicada, Universidad de Córdoba, ceiA3, Campus de Rabanales, 14071 Córdoba, Spain. aperea@uco.es.
⁵ Departamento de Física Aplicada, Universidad de Córdoba, ceiA3, Campus de Rabanales, 14071 Córdoba, Spain. fa1majip@uco.es.
⁶ Departamento Ingeniería Rural, Ed Leonardo da Vinci, Campus de Rabanales, Universidad de Córdoba, Campus de Excelencia Internacional Agroalimentario, ceiA3, 1470 Cordoba, Spain. mdredel@uco.es.
⁷ eHealth Research Group, Usher Institute of Population Health Sciences and Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9YL, UK. claudia.pagliari@ed.ac.uk.
⁸ Grupo Investigación epidemiológica en Atención primaria (GC-12) del Instituto Maimónides de Investigación Biomédica de Córdoba (IMIBIC), Hospital Universitario Reina Sofía, 14071 Córdoba, Spain. mvaquero@uco.es.

PMID: 31671857
PMCID: PMC6861923
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph16214177

Abstract

Disordered eating attitudes are rapidly increasing, especially among young women in their twenties. These disordered behaviours result from the interaction of several factors, including beauty ideals. A significant factor is social media, by which the unrealistic beauty ideals are popularized and may lead to these behaviours. The objectives of this study were, first, to determine the relationship between disordered eating behaviours among female university students and sociocultural factors, such as the use of social network sites, beauty ideals, body satisfaction, body image and the body image desired to achieve and, second, to determine whether there is a sensitive relationship between disordered eating attitudes, addiction to social networks, and testosterone levels as a biological factor. The data (N = 168) was obtained using validated surveys (EAT-26, BSQ, CIPE-a, SNSA) and indirect measures of prenatal testosterone. The data was analysed using chi-square, Student's t-test, correlation tests and logistic regression tests. The results showed that disordered eating attitudes were linked to self-esteem (p < 0.001), body image (p < 0.001), body desired to achieve (p < 0.001), the use of social media (p < 0.001) and prenatal testosterone (p < 0.01). The findings presented in this study suggest a relationship between body image, body concerns, body dissatisfaction, and disordered eating attitudes among college women.

Keywords: body image; disordered eating behaviours; female; social media; university students..

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

**Figure 1**
Flow chart of the recruitment and selection of the sample.

**Figure 2**
Results from the EAT-26 related to body satisfaction.

**Figure 3**
ROC curve from the logistic model for disordered eating.

See this image and copyright information in PMC

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References

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1. Fardouly J., Vartanian L.R. Negative comparisons about one’s appearance mediate the relationship between Facebook usage and body image concerns. Body Image. 2015;12:82–88. doi: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2014.10.004. - DOI - PubMed
1. Bailey A.P., Parker A.G., Colautti L.A., Hart L.M., Liu P., Hetrick S.E. Mapping the evidence for the prevention and treatment of eating disorders in young people. J. Eat. Disord. 2014;2:5. doi: 10.1186/2050-2974-2-5. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
1. Telch C.F., Pratt E.M., Niego S.H. Obese women with binge eating disorder define the term binge. Int. J. Eat. Disord. 1997;24:313–317. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1098-108X(199811)24:3<313::AID-EAT9>3.0.CO;2-P. - DOI - PubMed
1. Plateau C.R., Brookes F.A., Pugh M. Guided recovery: An interpretative phenomenological analysis of service users’ experiences of guided self-help for bulimic and binge eating disorders. Gogn. Behav. Pract. 2018;25:310–318. doi: 10.1016/j.cbpra.2017.08.004. - DOI

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[1] Dowds J. What do young people think about eating disorders and prevention programmes? Implications for partnerships between health, education and informal youth agencies. JPMH. 2010;9:30–41. doi: 10.5042/jpmh.2010.0701. - DOI

[2] Dowds J. What do young people think about eating disorders and prevention programmes? Implications for partnerships between health, education and informal youth agencies. JPMH. 2010;9:30–41. doi: 10.5042/jpmh.2010.0701. - DOI

[3] Fardouly J., Vartanian L.R. Negative comparisons about one’s appearance mediate the relationship between Facebook usage and body image concerns. Body Image. 2015;12:82–88. doi: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2014.10.004. - DOI - PubMed

[4] Fardouly J., Vartanian L.R. Negative comparisons about one’s appearance mediate the relationship between Facebook usage and body image concerns. Body Image. 2015;12:82–88. doi: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2014.10.004. - DOI - PubMed

[5] Bailey A.P., Parker A.G., Colautti L.A., Hart L.M., Liu P., Hetrick S.E. Mapping the evidence for the prevention and treatment of eating disorders in young people. J. Eat. Disord. 2014;2:5. doi: 10.1186/2050-2974-2-5. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[6] Bailey A.P., Parker A.G., Colautti L.A., Hart L.M., Liu P., Hetrick S.E. Mapping the evidence for the prevention and treatment of eating disorders in young people. J. Eat. Disord. 2014;2:5. doi: 10.1186/2050-2974-2-5. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[7] Telch C.F., Pratt E.M., Niego S.H. Obese women with binge eating disorder define the term binge. Int. J. Eat. Disord. 1997;24:313–317. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1098-108X(199811)24:3<313::AID-EAT9>3.0.CO;2-P. - DOI - PubMed

[8] Telch C.F., Pratt E.M., Niego S.H. Obese women with binge eating disorder define the term binge. Int. J. Eat. Disord. 1997;24:313–317. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1098-108X(199811)24:3<313::AID-EAT9>3.0.CO;2-P. - DOI - PubMed

[9] Plateau C.R., Brookes F.A., Pugh M. Guided recovery: An interpretative phenomenological analysis of service users’ experiences of guided self-help for bulimic and binge eating disorders. Gogn. Behav. Pract. 2018;25:310–318. doi: 10.1016/j.cbpra.2017.08.004. - DOI

[10] Plateau C.R., Brookes F.A., Pugh M. Guided recovery: An interpretative phenomenological analysis of service users’ experiences of guided self-help for bulimic and binge eating disorders. Gogn. Behav. Pract. 2018;25:310–318. doi: 10.1016/j.cbpra.2017.08.004. - DOI

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Social Media, Thin-Ideal, Body Dissatisfaction and Disordered Eating Attitudes: An Exploratory Analysis

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Social Media, Thin-Ideal, Body Dissatisfaction and Disordered Eating Attitudes: An Exploratory Analysis

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