Effects of Social Media and Smartphone Use on Body Esteem in Female Adolescents: Testing a Cognitive and Affective Model

Abstract

We examined the predictive relations of social media and smartphone use to body esteem in female adolescents and the mechanism that underlies these relations. As a result of frequent social media and smartphone use, adolescents are continually exposed to appearance-related media content. This likely reinforces a thin ideal and fosters appearance-based comparison and increases fear of external evaluation. Hence, we investigated a cognitive-affective framework in which the associations of social media and smartphone use with body esteem are serially mediated by cognitive internalization of an ideal body image, appearance comparisons, and social appearance anxiety. By testing female adolescents (N = 100) aged 13 to 18, we found that excessive social media use leads to unhealthy body esteem via intensified cognitive internalization, which aggravates appearance comparisons and anxiety regarding negative appearance evaluation. Further, we found that screen time for specific smartphone activities also harmed body esteem, independent of social media use. However, overall smartphone screen time did not affect body esteem when social media use was taken into consideration. Our findings underscore the multifactor mechanism that elucidates the negative impacts of social media and smartphone activities on body esteem in female adolescents, who are developmentally susceptible to poor body esteem.

Screen media use and sleep patterns in Spanish adolescents during the lockdown of the coronavirus pandemic

“…Families reported that before of the pandemic 13% of adolescents used electronic devices ≥ 4 h, while during the lockdown it is was almost sixfold higher (75%). Several factors might be involved in the high rate of screen consuming from changes in learning methods, social isolation to easier and wider access to electronic devices [21][22][23]. Previously, the negative impact of screen use on sleep was associated basically with two factors: number of hours of use of electronic devices and a schedule of use close to bedtime [15,17,24].…”

Social Media Use and Body Dissatisfaction in Adolescents: The Moderating Role of Thin- and Muscular-Ideal Internalisation

“…The appearance subscale of the Body Esteem Scale for Adolescents and Adults (BESAA) was used as an index of body dissatisfaction [ 70 ]. Although it traditionally assesses an individual’s global appraisal of their outward appearance, it has been empirically linked to body dissatisfaction [ 71 ] and has been used as a broad indicator of body dissatisfaction elsewhere [ 72 , 73 ]. Participants were asked to indicate how true ten statements were for them on a 5-point scale (1 = never to 5 = always ).…”

Body Dissatisfaction and Disordered Eating Behaviors: The Mediation Role of Smartphone Addiction and Depression

“…Accordingly, strategies that target the management of smartphone usage should be considered and implemented to provide a comprehensive intervention. In addition, interventions might also benefit from a particular focus on the cognitive factors (e.g., body judgments and the internalization of unrealistic physical standards) induced by social media and smartphone use, given that these factors have been shown to mediate the relationship between smartphone use and body-related or eating-related outcomes [ 58 , 59 ].…”