The DOI matches its Crossref record; 44 of the 44 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
The impact of social media use on appearance self-esteem from childhood to adolescence – A 3-wave community study
Open accessAbstract
Social media users are extensively exposed to photographs displaying idealized self-presentations. This poses a potential threat to youth's appearance self-esteem, but the negative impact may depend upon types of social media engagement. Youth who actively post updates (i.e., self-oriented social media use) may position themselves to receive positive feedback and appearance confirmation and thus show enhanced self-esteem, whereas youths who mostly view and respond to other's posts (i.e. other-oriented social media use) are exposed to these idealized presentations, while not receiving positive feedback on their own appearance, which may result in reduced self-esteem. Children were interviewed about their social media use at ages 10, 12 and 14 years (n = 725). Appearance self-esteem was captured by the Self Description Questionnaire I and the Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents. Applying a Random Intercept Cross-lagged Panel Model, we found that increased other-oriented social media use predicted decreased appearance self-esteem from ages 10 to 12 and ages 12 to 14, but only in girls. Self-oriented social media use did not impact appearance self-esteem, and no reverse influence from appearance self-esteem to social media use was revealed. Findings suggest that other-oriented, but not self-oriented use, negatively affects appearance self-esteem from childhood to adolescence.
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“This dynamic can exacerbate the pressure to conform to idealized standards, as adolescents and young adults equate social approval and self-worth with how closely their bodies resemble those celebrated online [35].”
From Body Perceptions and Psychological Well-Being: A Review of the Impact of Social Media and Physical Measurements on Self-Esteem and Mental Health with a Focus on Body Image Satisfaction and Its Relationship with Cultural and Gender Factors (2024) · cites this paper as [35]
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“In a longitudinal study of adolescents in Norway, higher levels of 'other-oriented social media use' (e.g., liking and commenting on others' posts) were found to predict worse appearance self-esteem across ages 10-14 for girls but not boys (Steinsbekk et al., 2021).”
From The Perfect Storm: A Developmental-Sociocultural Framework for the Role of Social Media in Adolescent Girls' Body Image Concerns and Mental Health. (2022) · cites this paper as Steinsbekk et al., 2021
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“Thus, research that examines adolescents' exposure to their own SM feeds (e.g., Fardouly et al., 2015; Steinsbekk et al., 2021) may not be equipped to differentiate between the effects of viewing known peer, unknown same-aged peer, celebrity, and influencer images.”
From The Perfect Storm: A Developmental-Sociocultural Framework for the Role of Social Media in Adolescent Girls' Body Image Concerns and Mental Health. (2022) · cites this paper as Steinsbekk et al., 2021
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“This educational approach has been shown to reduce the negative impact of social media on body image and self-esteem [35,36,37,45].”
From Body Perceptions and Psychological Well-Being: A Review of the Impact of Social Media and Physical Measurements on Self-Esteem and Mental Health with a Focus on Body Image Satisfaction and Its Relationship with Cultural and Gender Factors (2024) · cites this paper as [35]
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“The existing literature indicates that media literacy education helps young individuals develop critical thinking skills, enabling them to analyze and question the content they encounter on social media.”
From Body Perceptions and Psychological Well-Being: A Review of the Impact of Social Media and Physical Measurements on Self-Esteem and Mental Health with a Focus on Body Image Satisfaction and Its Relationship with Cultural and Gender Factors (2024) · cites this paper as [35]
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Citations
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Metadata
- Authors
- Steinsbekk, S., Wichstrøm, L., Stenseng, F., Nesi, J., Hygen, B. W., & Skalická, V.
- Affiliations
- Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NO)
- Brown University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Steinsbekk, Silje
- Venue
- Computers in Human Behavior
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2021-01
- Volume
- 114
- Pages
- 106528
- ISSN
- 0747-5632 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3065818614
- Cited by
- 221
- References
- 44
- Citations by year
- 2026: 26 · 2025: 36 · 2024: 47 · 2023: 35 · 2022: 47 · 2021: 27
- FWCI
- 37.52
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Computers in Human Behavior (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- NORA - Norwegian Open Research Archives (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Research Council of Norway (240097, ES611813)
- NTNU
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Body Image and Dysmorphia Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Eating Disorders and Behaviors
- Keywords
- social media use, appearance self-esteem, childhood, adolescence, gender differences, body image
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