Problematic usage of the internet and eating disorders: a multifaceted, systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Eating disorders are widespread illnesses with significant impact. There is growing concern about how those at risk of eating disorders overuse online resources to their detriment. We conducted a pre-registered systematic review and meta-analysis of studies examining Problematic Usage of the Internet (PUI) and eating disorders. The meta-analysis comprised n=32,295 participants, in which PUI was correlated with significant eating disorder psychopathology Pearson r=0.22 (s.e.=0.04, p<0.001), body dissatisfaction r=0.16 (s.e.=0.02, p<0.001), drive-for-thinness r=0.16 (s.e.=0.04, p<0.001) and dietary restraint r=0.18 (s.e.=0.03). Effects were not moderated by gender, PUI facet or study quality. Results are in support of PUI impacting significantly on vulnerable populations towards the development or maintenance of eating disorder psychopathology; males may be equally vulnerable to these potential effects. Prospective and experimental studies in the field suggest that small but significant effects exist and may have accumulative influence over time and across all age groups. Those findings are important to expand our understanding of PUI as a multifaceted concept and its impact on multiple levels of ascertainment of eating disorder psychopathology.

Eating disorders symptoms and excessive internet use in adolescents: the role of internalising and externalising problems

“…The first result expands upon the existing literature for the association between EDS and EIU [ 4 ] in that these two risks remain partially correlated, pointing to other unexplained mechanisms (not included in the present study) that are responsible for their co-occurrence. We suggest that family-related factors (e.g., parental care, parental monitoring, family dysfunction, family eating habits) might be explanatory factors; indeed, former studies already reported its effects on EDS [ 35 ] as well as on EIU [ 36 ].…”

“…This is surprising because boys and girls have different patterns of internet use. The most established digital media activity associated with EDS is social media use [ 4 ], which has a higher prevalence among girls [ 14 ] compared to boys, who are likely to play games [ 40 ]. But based on our results, we may hypothetically assume that the associations among the studied constructs are similar regardless of the preferred digital activity.…”

“…We study these risks in the context of internalising and externalising problems. Although they both have attracted extensive attention, their mutual association has been thoroughly investigated only in a limited number of studies [ 3 , 4 ].…”

Fear of missing out (FOMO) to the joy of missing out (JOMO): shifting dunes of problematic usage of the internet among social media users

“…Various hypotheses were formulated by conducting an extensive literature review and empirical evidence is presented to support these relationships. In the past, researchers and scholars have investigated PUI and its various terrifying facets (Ioannidis et al, 2021;Ioannidis et al, 2020;Cheng et al, 2018;Mingoia et al, 2017;Sari and Aydin, 2014). However, a study that connects PUI with so many different variables is rare to find.…”

Информационное Воздействие На Личность В Сети Интернет Как Один Из Предикторов Частоты Рецидивов Расстройств Пищевого Поведения

“…al., 2021). В одном из исследований была показана взаимосвязь между использованием Интернета и симптомами расстройств пищевого поведения, в частности: неудовлетворенностью телом, ограничительным питанием и стремлением к худобе (Ioannidis, et. al., 2020).…”