The Relationship between Health- and Fitness-Related Social Media Use and Consumers' Disordered Eating

Marketing ZFP ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 37-47
Author(s):  
Vivienne Schünemeyer ◽  
Gianfranco Walsh
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Disordered Eating ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Service Research ◽  
Social Media Use ◽  
Related Services ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Related Service ◽  
The Relationship

Health-related services shared through social media are enjoying considerable growth, particularly among young people, yet they have potentially detrimental outcomes for consumer well-being. This research undertakes an examination of literature pertaining to health-related social media use in an effort to explore its relationship with disordered eating in particular. In line with objectification theory, Study 1 affirms that viewing images and videos posted on health-related social media is positively associated with the level of people’s disordered eating. Furthermore, Study 2 clarifies that this relationship is mediated, as expected, by social physique anxiety, and it also is unexpectedly moderated by general social media use. That is, the relationship between viewing health-related images and videos and disordered eating is stronger among consumers who exhibit low and medium social media use rather than those with high social media use. The implications of these findings are relevant for both health-related service research and public policy.

scholarly journals Association of Social Media Use With Social Well-Being, Positive Mental Health, and Self-Rated Health: Disentangling Routine Use From Emotional Connection to Use

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (2_suppl) ◽  
pp. 69S-80S ◽  
Author(s):  
Mesfin A. Bekalu ◽  
Rachel F. McCloud ◽  
K. Viswanath
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Dose Effect ◽  
Social Media Use ◽  
Emotional Connection ◽  
Self Rated Health ◽  
Health Related

Most studies addressing social media use as a normal social behavior with positive or negative effects on health-related outcomes have conceptualized and measured social media use and its effects in terms of dose–effect relations. These studies focus on measuring frequency and duration of use, and have seldom considered users’ emotional connections to social media use and the effects associated with such connections. By using a scale with two dimensions capturing users’ integration of social media use into their social routines and their emotional connection to the sites’ use, the present study has brought preliminary evidence that may help map where social media use, as a normal social behavior, may be considered beneficial or harmful. Data from a nationally representative sample ( n = 1,027) of American adults showed that while routine use is associated with positive health outcomes, emotional connection to social media use is associated with negative health outcomes. These associations have been consistent across three health-related outcomes: social well-being, positive mental health, and self-rated health. The data also showed that the strength of the positive and negative associations of routine use and emotional connection with the health outcomes varies across socioeconomic and racial/ethnic population subgroups. Our findings suggest that the link between social media use and health may not only be captured by and explained in terms of conventional dose–effect approaches but may also require a more sophisticated conceptualization and measurement of the social media use behavior.

scholarly journals Social Media Use and Emotional Well-Being: The Role of Physical Activity

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 931-931
Author(s):  
Xin Yao Lin ◽  
Margie Lachman
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Negative Affect ◽  
Positive Affect ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Social Media Use ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract There are mixed findings as to whether social media use (SMU) is positively or negatively related to well-being (positive/negative affect), and this relationship varies by age. The current study seeks to further explore this relationship by examining physical activity (PA) as a potential mediator at both a within (intraindividual) and between-person (interindividual) level across adulthood. The data are from the Midlife in the United States Refresher eight-day daily diary study (N=782, ages 25-75) with self-reported frequency of SMU, PA, and well-being (positive/negative affect). Multilevel structural equation modeling simultaneously tested how the relationships between the variables differed at both the between- and within-person levels. Between-person results showed that across the week, those who reported less SMU reported engaging in more PA, and more PA was associated with more positive affect. PA significantly mediated the relationship between SMU and positive affect for midlife and older adults, but not for younger adults. Effects for negative affect were not significant. Within-person results indicated that days with more PA were associated with more positive affect; however, PA did not mediate the relationship between SMU and positive or negative affect. These findings suggest the benefits of engaging in PA on one’s positive emotional well-being at both the between- and within-person levels. However, for midlife and older adults, more SMU across the week may take away time from engaging in PA, which in turn lowers their positive affect. Implications of the effects of SMU on PA and well-being across adulthood are discussed.

The social media see-saw: Positive and negative influences on adolescents’ affective well-being

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (10) ◽  
pp. 3597-3623 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Weinstein
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Media Use ◽  
Multiple Dimensions ◽  
The Social ◽  
Relational Interactions ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Depth Interviews

Social media use is nearly universal among US-based teens. How do daily interactions with social apps influence adolescents’ affective well-being? Survey self-reports ( n = 568) portray social media use as predominantly positive. Exploratory principal component analysis further indicates that positive and negative emotions form orthogonal response components. In-depth interviews with a sub-sample of youth ( n = 26), selected for maximum variation, reveal that affect experiences can be organized across four functional dimensions. Relational interactions contribute to both closeness and disconnection; self-expression facilitates affirmation alongside concern about others’ judgments; interest-driven exploration confers inspiration and distress; and browsing leads to entertainment and boredom, as well as admiration and envy. All interviewees describe positive and negative affect experiences across multiple dimensions. Analyses suggest the relationship between social technology usage and well-being—whether enhanced or degraded—is not confined to an “either/or” framework: the emotional see-saw of social media use is weighted by both positive and negative influences.

scholarly journals The Relationship Between Social Media Use and Well-Being: The Mediating Role of Social Support

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 427-427
Author(s):  
Margie Lachman ◽  
Xin Yao Lin
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Social Media Use ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Daily Diary Study ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract Frequent social media usage can have negative effects on well-being, but the mechanisms involved are unclear. This study explored the mediating role of giving and receiving support. Using the Midlife in the United States Refresher eight-day daily diary study (N=782, age 25-75), multilevel structural equation modeling examined the hypothesized relationships at both the within- (intraindividual) and between-person (interindividual) levels. Results showed that at the within-person level, days with more social media use were associated with a larger proportion of time giving support and worse well-being (less positive affect and more stress, negative affect, and loneliness). At the between-person level, more social media use was associated with worse well-being. Giving support, but not receiving support, mediated the relationship between social media use and well-being at the within, but not the between-person level. Discussion focuses on ways to address the negative consequences of social media use related to social connections and well-being.

The relationship between social media use and disordered eating in young adolescents

2019 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 96-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon M. Wilksch ◽  
Anne O'Shea ◽  
Pheobe Ho ◽  
Sue Byrne ◽  
Tracey D. Wade
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Disordered Eating ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Young Adolescents ◽  
Social Media Use ◽  
The Relationship

scholarly journals Priming Effects of Social Media Use Scales on Well-Being Outcomes: The Influence of Intensity and Addiction Scales on Self-Reported Depression

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 205630512096178
Author(s):  
Hannah Mieczkowski ◽  
Angela Y Lee ◽  
Jeffrey T Hancock
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Survey Design ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Media Use ◽  
Priming Effects ◽  
Asking Questions ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Relationship

To understand behavior on social media, researchers have created and validated dozens of scales. Many can be sorted into two main categories: those that focus on the intensity of social media use and those that focus on addictive aspects. These scales tend to result in different conclusions regarding people’s well-being: studies asking about addiction find that social media use is often associated with higher reported depression scores, whereas studies focusing on intensity typically find an association with improved well-being. While these different outcomes may be explained by real underlying differences in well-being, the difference may also be due to the priming effects that addiction and intensity scales have on subsequent well-being measures. In this article, we report on two studies that examine priming effects on reported depression for these two types of social media use scales. We examine the possibility that different associations between social media and depression may be caused by the survey design itself, not by underlying differences in depression. In light of our findings, we propose that researchers investigating the relationship between social media and well-being adopt the methodology of asking questions about well-being before questions about social media use to mitigate effects of priming.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document