In the current study, we explored the links between social networking
activity, eating attitudes (EA), anxiety, and depression among adolescents.
We used a cross-sectional design. Our sample consisted of 532 males and
females, aged 12 to 15 (M = 13.55, SD = 0.90), from the Eastern side of
Romania. We analyzed our data using three different pathways to explore
these relationships on the overall sample, as well as the at-risk for eating
disorders (ED) group (n = 134), and the non-ED-risk (n = 398) samples. The
results suggested that depressive and anxiety symptoms partially mediated
the relationship between social networking and eating attitudes in the
overall group and in the not-at-risk for ED group, but not in the at-risk
for ED sample. When controlling for gender, social networking use partially
mediated the relationship between anxiety and depressive symptoms and eating
attitudes in the overall group and the not-at-risk for ED group, and a total
mediating effect within this relationship in the at-risk ED sample was also
found. In adolescents with symptoms of potential ED, social networking use
seemed to have a protective role compared to the not-at-risk sample. The
present study suggested that social networking use might increase the
chances of developing unhealthy eating attitudes in adolescents who are
not-at risk to develop an eating disorder, but, at the same time, it might
play a protective role (instead of a harmful one) for adolescents who
already developed such symptoms. Results are discussed concerning their
clinical and practical implication for adolescents' physical and mental
health, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the potential
protective role of social media use for adolescents with ED symptoms.