Exploring the Involvement of Personal and Emotional Factors and Social Media Body Image-Related Behaviours on Eating Disorder Symptoms and Body Image Concerns in Women and Men.

Background

Eating disorder (ED) symptoms and body image (BI) concerns involve serious risks to the physical and mental health of women and men. Social networking sites have amplified the promotion of idealised body images, contributing to this issue.

Objectives

This study examines the link between personal and emotional factors, social media body image-related behaviours, BI concerns, and ED symptoms, as well as the differential role of these factors according to gender.

Methods

A cross-sectional design was applied. The participants were 201 Spanish adults (mean age = 28.26; 76.6% women) who completed self-reported measures on BI (MBSRQ), ED symptoms (EAT-26), perfectionism (EDI-2), anxiety, depression, stress (DASS-21), emotional dysregulation (DERS), life satisfaction (SWLS), and social media BI-related behaviours.

Results

Significant relationships between ED symptoms and BI concerns with personal and emotional factors and social media body image-related behaviours have been found. Women have scored higher in ED symptoms and social media BI-related behaviours than men. Multiple regression analyses showed that the difficulty in accepting emotions and not posting images due to BI dissatisfaction were risk factors for ED symptoms in both men and women. Furthermore, the adverse effect of perfectionism and low life satisfaction on women's ED symptoms were demonstrated, whereas in men, goal-directed behaviours were associated with ED risk.

Conclusions

These results suggest that prevention programmes focusing on emotional regulation and healthier social media use can be effective for ED symptoms and BI concerns.