Strong Correlations between Social Appearance Anxiety, Use of Social Media, and Feelings of Loneliness in Adolescents and Young Adults

Abstract

Social appearance anxiety is a type of social anxiety that is associated with body image perception and exacerbated by the use of social media, leading to feelings of loneliness. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to examine the relations between social appearance anxiety, use of social media, and feelings of loneliness in Greek adolescents and young adults. The sample of the research consisted of 632 participants, 439 women (69.5%) and 193 men (30.5%), aged 18–35 years. The Social Appearance Anxiety Scale (SAAS), the Social Media Disorder Scale (SMDS), and the UCLA Loneliness Scale were the instruments used. Data collection was performed online, via Google forms. Multiple regression analyses were performed and demonstrated a significant positive correlation between the Social Appearance Anxiety Scale and the UCLA Loneliness Scale scores. The feeling of loneliness was predicted by the social appearance anxiety score (p < 0.0001). On the other hand, there was a significant negative correlation between the Social Appearance Anxiety Scale and the Social Media Disorder Scale scores (p = 0.002), suggesting that social media use may exacerbate appearance anxiety and, hence, loneliness. The findings suggest that there may be a complex, vicious reverberatory cycle between appearance anxiety, use of social media, and feelings of loneliness in some young people.

Social anxiety and suicidal ideation among middle-school students in China: a mediation model of internet addiction

“…Under this model, Internet addiction emerges as a kind of ‘self-treatment’ in individuals who try to eliminate their social anxiety. When they have a strong fear of embarrassment in social situations or have negative evaluations from others, Internet-mediated activity may become particularly attractive since it offers greater tolerance and anonymity ( 37 , 52 ). At the same time, Internet use as a coping strategy could deprive individuals from real-world social relationships and may lead to more detrimental mental outcomes when the underlying social anxiety is unknot treated.…”

“…Under this model, Internet addiction emerges as a kind of 'self-treatment' in individuals who try to eliminate their social anxiety. When they have a strong fear of embarrassment in social situations or have negative evaluations from others, Internet-mediated activity may become particularly attractive since it offers greater tolerance and anonymity (37,52). At Structural equation modelling depicting direct and indirect effects (adjusted β coefficients) of social anxiety on suicidal ideation.…”

“…On the other hand, emerging research has found a positive correlation between social anxiety and Internet addiction ( 21 , 35 ), and social anxiety is a significant predictor of Internet addiction ( 36 , 37 ). According to the cognitive-behavioral model ( 38 ), social anxiety could be viewed as a distal antecedent of Internet addiction.…”

The Primacy of Ethics in Aesthetic Medicine: A Review

“…21 This relentless pressure to conform to unattainable beauty standards can adversely affect mental well-being, as demonstrated by increasing evidence of the associations of social media use with markers of depression, particularly among teenagers and young adults. 10,22,23 Although beauty standards evolve, youthfulness remains a constant feature of attractiveness. 7 The apprehension surrounding aging transcends an individual's self-esteem; it may result in concerns about the potential consequences of visible aging, such as its impact on employment opportunities or relationships.…”

The Relationships Between Gender Identity, Loneliness, and Body Dissatisfaction Among Adolescents

“…This can lead to withdrawal from social interaction, isolation, and feelings of loneliness. Some results demonstrate the possibility of a complicated, vicious feedback loop between appearance concerns and loneliness in adolescents, especially for girls (Diamond, 2020;Forste, Potter, & Ericson, 2017;Papapanou et al, 2023). Loneliness can be subjective due to the fact that the adolescent themselves avoids social situations, which is caused by body dissatisfaction.…”