However, according to Goldfield, most psychological research on social media, body image, and mental health is correlated, so it is uncertain whether people with body image and mental health issues spend more time on social media or if social media The use has more to do with body image and mental health issues.
To better understand the causal effects of reducing social media use on body image, Goldfield and colleagues first conducted a pilot study with 38 undergraduate students with high levels of anxiety and/or depression. Some participants were asked to limit their social media use to no more than 60 minutes per day, while others were allowed unrestricted access. Compared to participants who had unlimited access, participants who restricted their use showed improvements in their overall appearance (but not their weight) after three weeks. Due to the small sample size, however, the researchers were unable to meaningfully analyze the effect of gender.
The current experiment, involving 220 undergraduate students aged 17–25 (76% female, 23% male, 1% other) and published in the journal psychology of popular media, sought to expand the pilot study and address the gender limitation. To qualify, participants had to be regular social media users (at least two hours per day on their smartphones) and exhibit symptoms of depression or anxiety.
For the first week of the experiment, all participants were instructed to use their social media as normal. Social media use was measured using a screentime tracking program, in which participants provided a daily screenshot. After the first week, half the participants were instructed to limit their social media use to no less than 60 minutes per day. At the start of the experiment, participants responded to a series of statements about their overall appearance (eg, “I am very happy with the way I look”) and weight (eg, “I am satisfied with my weight. , ) on a 5-point scale, with 1 denoting “never” and 5 “always”. Participants completed a similar questionnaire at the end of the experiment.
For the next three weeks, participants who were instructed to restrict their social media use reduced it by almost 50%, to an average of 78 minutes per day, compared to the control group, which averaged 188 minutes of social media use. It was per day.
Participants who reduced their social media use had significant improvements in both their overall appearance and body weight after three weeks of intervention, compared to the control group, who saw no significant changes. There did not appear to be any difference in gender effect.
Say ‘no’ to social media for a healthy body image
“Our brief, four-week intervention using screentime trackers showed that reducing social media use resulted in significant improvements in appearance and weight esteem among distressed youth,” Goldfield said. “Reducing social media use is a viable way to produce a short-term positive effect on body image among vulnerable populations of users and should be evaluated as a potential component in the treatment of body-image related disturbances. ”
While the current study was conducted as a proof of concept, Goldfield and his colleagues are in the process of conducting a larger study to see whether the reduction in social media use can be maintained over the long term and whether that Deficiency may have even greater psychological benefits. ,
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