The DOI matches its Crossref record; 45 of the 45 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
The impact of social media use on body image and disordered eating behaviors: Content matters more than duration of exposure
Open accessAbstract
Social media use is rapidly expanding in terms of frequency, duration, and the diversity of platforms available. Given evidence for associations between social media use, body image disturbances, and disordered eating it is important to identify potentially harmful aspects of social media use that could serve as intervention targets. This study surveyed two demographically diverse undergraduate student cohorts in 2015 and 2022 to compare patterns in social media use, body image, and disordered eating behaviors between samples, including as a function of the COVID-19 pandemic, and to test the hypothesized moderating role of specific content consumed in the association between social media use and maladaptive outcomes. Participants in 2022 reported greater body image disturbances, more frequent vomiting and laxative use, and more time spent on a greater number of social media accounts, with significantly greater use of image-based platforms such as Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube. Moderated regression analyses suggest that type of content consumed, but not the amount of time spent on social media or diversity of platforms utilized, is associated with body image disturbances and disordered eating behaviors after controlling for gender and body mass index. Specifically, exposure to weight loss content was associated with lower body appreciation, greater fears of negative appearance evaluation, and more frequent binge eating. Contrary to initial hypotheses, exposure to body positivity/neutrality content did not have protective effects. Findings suggest that interventions targeting negative consequences of social media use should focus on addressing content consumed, rather than time spent on social media platforms.
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“Other recent studies have also put forward that a higher use of social media platforms such as Instragram and TikTok that allow adolescents to engage with photo and video-related activities appears to be associated with higher levels of body image and eating concerns, rather than a global time spent on social media (Sanzari et al., 2023;Zimmer-Gembeck et al., 2021).”
From Relation Between Social Media Use and Body Image Concerns and Disordered Eating in Adolescence: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (2026) · cites this paper as Sanzari et al., 2023
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The Body Appreciation Scale: Development and psychometric evaluation
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Social Media and Body Image Concerns: Current Research and Future Directions
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Social Media and Mental Health: Benefits, Risks, and Opportunities for Research and Practice
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Tiggemann, M., & Slater, A. (2013) · International Journal of Eating Disorders · doi:10.1002/eat.22141 · Cited by 741
Facebook Photo Activity Associated with Body Image Disturbance in Adolescent Girls
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A meta-analytic review of the relationship between social media use and body image disturbance
Saiphoo, A. N., & Vahedi, Z. (2019) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2019.07.028 · Cited by 539
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Cohen, R., Newton-John, T., & Slater, A. (2017) · Body Image · doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2017.10.002 · Cited by 448
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Dahlgren, C. L., Sundgot‐Borgen, J., Kvalem, I. L., Wennersberg, A. L., & Wisting, L. (2024) · Journal of Eating Disorders · doi:10.1186/s40337-024-00992-3 · Cited by 89
Sharma, A., & Vidal, C. (2023) · Journal of Eating Disorders · doi:10.1186/s40337-023-00898-6 · Cited by 53
Impact of body-positive social media content on body image perception
Jiménez-García, A., Arias, N., Hontanaya, E. P., Sanz, A., & García-Velasco, O. (2025) · Journal of Eating Disorders · doi:10.1186/s40337-025-01286-y · Cited by 71
Pang, H., & Li, Q. (2024) · Applied Research in Quality of Life · doi:10.1007/s11482-024-10272-6 · Cited by 38
The healthy eating movement on social media and its psychological effects on body image
Zaharia, A., & Gonța, I. (2024) · Frontiers in Nutrition · doi:10.3389/fnut.2024.1474729 · Cited by 43
Metadata
- Authors
- Sanzari, C. M., Gorrell, S., Anderson, L. M., Reilly, E. E., Niemiec, M. A., Orloff, N. C., Anderson, D. A., & Hormes, J. M.
- Affiliations
- State University of New York (US)
- University of California, San Francisco (US)
- University of Minnesota (US)
- Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (US)
- University at Albany, State University of New York (US)
- Corresponding author
- Sanzari, Christina M.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Eating Behaviors
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2023-04
- Volume
- 49
- Pages
- 101722
- ISSN
- 1471-0153 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC10363994
- OpenAlex
- W4362574866
- Cited by
- 129
- References
- 45
- Citations by year
- 2026: 53 · 2025: 41 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 11
- FWCI
- 37.19
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Licence
- Locations
- Eating Behaviors (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (K23MH123910, K23MH126201, K23MH131871)
- National Science Foundation (1645421)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Eating Disorders and Behaviors
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Body Image and Dysmorphia Studies
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Keywords
- social media use, body image, disordered eating, binge eating, image-based social media, COVID-19 pandemic, body appreciation, undergraduate students
- MeSH terms
- COVID-19, Feeding and Eating Disorders, Body Image, Humans, Pandemics, Social Media
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