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Posting edited photos of the self: Increasing eating disorder risk or harmless behavior?
Author(s) -
Wick Madeline R.,
Keel Pamela K.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
international journal of eating disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.785
H-Index - 138
eISSN - 1098-108X
pISSN - 0276-3478
DOI - 10.1002/eat.23263
Subject(s) - sadness , anxiety , psychology , depression (economics) , social media , mental health , social anxiety , eating disorders , clinical psychology , psychiatry , anger , political science , law , economics , macroeconomics
Objective Social media use has been implicated as a correlate and a cause of increased disordered eating (DE), but little is known about the impact of specific aspects of social media use, such as posting edited photos of the self. Utilizing a two‐stage design, the present study sought to determine how posting edited photos relates to DE, as well as anxiety and depression symptoms, in male and female college students. Method Stage 1 examined concurrent associations between posting edited photos and mental health measures in 2,485 undergraduates (76% female). Stage 2 examined causal associations between posting edited photos and eating disorder (ED) risk factors in 80 undergraduates (93% female) who endorsed posting edited photos in Stage 1 and volunteered for the experimental portion of the study. Results In Stage 1, those who endorsed posting edited photos ( n = 660; 27%) reported greater eating pathology and anxiety than those who did not, but no differences were found for depressive symptoms. In Stage 2, posting edited photos caused increased weight/shape concerns. Posting photos reinforced urges to exercise and restrict food intake and anxiety. Editing photos without posting caused an immediate decrease in weight/shape concerns and a delayed decrease in sadness. Discussion Results support a consistent and direct link between posting edited photos and ED risk factors, suggesting that this is not a harmless behavior. Future work should explore the cumulative effects of this link to determine how specific uses of social media contribute to clinically meaningful outcomes.