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The centrality of physical appearance in dating app environments may constitute an appearance-related pressure that increases the likelihood of body dissatisfaction (BD) and disordered eating (DE), thus exacerbating the relationship between DE-predictive traits and DE itself. Although dating app use has been linked to BD and DE, prior research has also neglected the role of individuals’ dating app use motivations and relevant traits in eating pathology. To address these gaps, the current study investigated whether dating app usage moderated the effects of appearance-based rejection sensitivity, fear of negative evaluation, emotion dysregulation, and perceived social rank on DE. We also examined the unique effects of individuals’ dating app use motivations on DE. Participants (N = 690) completed baseline measures of demographic and trait variables including dating app usage. DE was positively associated with female gender, higher body mass index, a history of eating disorder (ED) diagnosis, appearance-based rejection sensitivity, and emotion dysregulation. There was a small, positive association between dating app usage and DE, indicating that dating app users were more likely to report DE symptoms, appearance-based rejection sensitivity, and emotion dysregulation. No investigated predictor was moderated by dating app usage, but four of the six measured motivations for using dating apps (love, self-worth, ease of communication, and thrill of excitement motivations) were associated with DE among the dating app user sample (casual sex and trendiness motivations were not). Given that DE behaviours can lead to EDs, the present findings suggest that lifetime dating app usage may increase socio-cultural appearance pressures that confer risk for DE.

Purpose The centrality of physical appearance in dating app environments may constitute an appearance related pressure that increases the likelihood of body dissatisfaction (BD) and disordered eating (DE). Although dating app use has been linked to BD and DE, prior research has neglected the role of individuals’ dating app use motivations and relevant traits in eating pathology. To address these gaps, the current study investigated whether dating app usage moderated the effects of appearance-based rejection sensitivity (appearance-RS), fear of negative evaluation (FNE), emotion dysregulation, and perceived social rank on DE, and the unique association between individuals’ dating app use motivations and DE. Methods Participants (N = 690) completed baseline measures of demographic and trait variables including dating app usage. Results DE was positively associated with female gender, higher body mass index, a history of eating disorder (ED) diagnosis, appearance-RS, and emotion dysregulation. Dating app users were more likely to report DE symptoms, appearance-RS, and emotion dysregulation. No investigated predictor was moderated by dating app usage, but four of the six measured motivations for using dating apps were associated with DE among the dating app user sample. Conclusion Given that DE behaviors can lead to EDs, the present findings suggest that lifetime dating app usage may constitute a socio-cultural appearance pressure which confers DE risk. Level of evidence : Level V; descriptive study