Social help or harm? An egocentric network analysis of college peer influence on body dissatisfaction and eating pathology.

Previous research has shown that peers influence college women's body attitudes and behaviors. However, many of these studies have examined similarities among peer dyads or specific groups and have not evaluated peer behaviors that may be particularly influential (e.g., appearance-focused social media use). The current study used an egocentric social network approach (i.e., participants identify and report on their social networks) to examine the collective influence of college social networks on body dissatisfaction and eating pathology. College students (N = 94; 94% identified as a cisgender woman) interested in participating in a body image intervention on two campuses completed an online survey. A social network measure instructed participants to list ten of their closest friends and report on their perceptions of their friend's body dissatisfaction, disordered eating behaviors, negative body talk, and appearance-focused social media use. Social network total scores were each regressed on participant body dissatisfaction and eating pathology. Participants who reported having a higher social network body dissatisfaction average and more friends who engage in disordered eating and negative body talk, also reported higher body dissatisfaction themselves. Those who reported having more friends who engage in disordered eating and appearance-focused social media use also reported higher eating pathology themselves. This study provides support for previous research that has found similarities between peer body dissatisfaction and eating pathology. The egocentric network approach allowed for the examination of the collective influence of one's self-identified closest friends, which may be particularly useful in the study of peer influence on eating pathology.