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. 2023 Feb 21;13(1):3044.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-29961-7.

Structural equation modeling of direct and indirect associations of social media addiction with eating behavior in adolescents and young adults

Mohammad Ali Mohsenpour  1   2 , Malihe Karamizadeh  3   4 , Reza Barati-Boldaji  5 , Gordon A Ferns  6 , Marzieh Akbarzadeh  7
Affiliations

Structural equation modeling of direct and indirect associations of social media addiction with eating behavior in adolescents and young adults

Mohammad Ali Mohsenpour et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Social media (SM) exerts important effects on health-related behaviors such as eating behaviors (EB). The present study was designed to determine the direct and indirect association of SM addiction with EB in adolescents and young adults through body image (BI). In this cross-sectional study, 12-22 years old adolescents and young adults, with no history of mental disorders or psychiatric medications usage were studied through an online questionnaire shared via SM platforms. Data were gathered about SM addiction, BI, and EB in its sub-scales. A single approach and multi-group path analyses were performed to find possible direct and indirect associations of SM addiction with EB through BI concerns. Overall, 970 subjects, 55.8% boys, were included in the analysis. Both multi-group (β = 0.484, SE = 0.025, P < 0.001) and fully-adjusted (β = 0.460, SE = 0.026, P < 0.001) path analyses showed higher SM addiction is related to disordered BI. Furthermore, the multi-group analysis showed one unit increment in SM addiction score was associated with 0.170 units higher scores for emotional eating (SE = 0.032, P < 0.001), 0.237 for external stimuli (SE = 0.032, P < 0.001), and 0.122 for restrained eating (SE = 0.031, P < 0.001). The present study revealed that SM addiction is associated with EB both directly and also indirectly through deteriorating BI in adolescents and young adults.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A schematic pathways of direct, indirect and total associations of multi-group path analysis between social media addiction, body image, and eating behavior.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Multi-group path analysis of direct, indirect and total associations between social media addiction, body image, and eating behavior. *β = 0.069, P < 0.001; **β = 0.065, P < 0.001; ***β = 0.136, P < 0.001; #β = 0.102, P = 0.004; ##β = 0.172, P < 0.001; ###β = − 0.014, P = 0.687; †β = 0.170, P < 0.001; ††β = 0.237, P < 0.001; †††β = 0.122, P < 0.001.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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