A Literature Review:

The Effects of Social Media and Body Image in Teenagers

Kamesha Jackson

Appalachian State University

RC 2001 101: Writing Across The Curriculum

Dr. Vicki LeQuire

12 October 2020
 Jackson 2

Literature Review

Social media plays a significant role in how teenagers in society perceive themselves.

These expectations can cause teenagers in society to take on a negative body image. The

scholarship suggests that social media can be one of the factors that can lead teenagers to believe

that their looks are inadequate and ultimately impact patient care.

Body Image

Self or body image stems from the perception of ourselves. Hosseini and Padhy (2020)

argue that body image is the subjective picture of individuals of their own body, irrespective of

how their body looks. Multiple factors can affect one’s image of themselves, one of those factors

being social media. Likewise, Landon Vartanian (2015) argues that people tend to judge their

body dissatisfaction on the difference between an ideal body shape or size, and their perceived

own body shape or size.

Patient Care and Body Image

Patient care according to the Health and Human Rights Coalition, is the “prevention,

treatment, and management of illness and the preservation of physical and mental well-being

through services offered by health professionals.” While patients are under the care of a health

professional, they must be managed accordingly. Shu-Ling Chen (2019), argues the importance

of understanding body image as a healthcare professional. Chen also argues the idea that “when a

patient complains to a nurse about physical discomforts, it is necessary to understand that the

patient is experiencing body image change and will benefit from timely and effective assistance

to overcome and accept this change.”

 Jackson 3

Social Media and Beauty Standards

Social Media contributes heavily to society’s ideal body image. Rebecca Lazuka (2020)

stresses the idea that “the use of mobile devices increases access to images on social media

relative to traditional media, including images that may influence body image”. One of the

greatest pressures of social media is the portrayal of only ideal body types. While there is a

significant amount of negative effects, there are also positive effects. Zoe Mansi (2019) argues

“Social media can positively impact body image in many ways. Health and wellness, fitness, and

plant-based food accounts can all be inspirational models for some users.” Mansi focuses on the

positive effects of social media and elaborates on how it could benefit individuals' lives.

Teenagers and Social Media

Today, social media can be accessed at the hands of various ages. Victoria Goodyear

(2020) argues the idea that “social media is a key resource in young people's lives for the

development of identities and relationships, as well as emotional regulation, self-expression,

learning, and much more.” The results of a study conducted by Lowes and Tiggemann, (2005)

suggest that significant developments in girls’ perception of body image may occur between 5

and 6 years old. This is detrimental to how they perceive themselves and develop over time.

Likewise, Dian Vries (2019) argues that children are not only receiving messages about their

bodies on social media, they also see adolescents see carefully selected and edited pictures of

their social media connections. This establishes an ideal body image which in turn could lead to

a distorted image of their own body. Also, Dr. Jasmine Fardouly (2016) conducted a study on

teens aged 15 to 17. Fardouly discovered, “during 2014, those aged 15 – 17 years spent an
 Jackson 4

average of 18 hours a week online, with 91% most commonly going online for social

networking.”

Conclusion

The scholarship suggests that social media can be one of the factors that can lead

teenagers to believe that their looks are inadequate and ultimately impact patient care. Pilar

Martinez (2019) argues that the media plays a vital role in formulating what is attractive in

society. This causes children who become aware of body image to want to achieve the

unattainable.
 Jackson 5

References

Aparicio-Martinez, P., Perea-Moreno, A. J., Martinez-Jimenez, M. P., Redel-Macías, M. D.,

Pagliari, C., & Vaquero-Abellan, M. (2019). social media, thin-ideal, body dissatisfaction

and disordered eating attitudes: an exploratory analysis. ​International journal of

environmental research and public health​, ​16​(21), 4177.

https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16214177

de Vries, Dian A., et al. “social media and body dissatisfaction: investigating the attenuating role

of positive parent-adolescent relationships.” ​Journal of Youth & Adolescence​, vol. 48, no.

3, Mar. 2019, pp. 527–536. ​EBSCOhost,​ doi:10.1007/s10964-018-0956-9.

Chen S. L. (2019). ​Hu li za zhi The journal of nursing,​ ​66(​ 5), 4–5.

https://doi.org/10.6224/JN.201910_66(5).01

Fardouly, J., & Vartanian, L. R. (2016). social media and body image concerns: current research

and future directions. ​Current Opinion in Psychology​, ​9​, 1–5.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2015.09.005

Goodyear, Victoria. “narrative matters: young people, social media and body image.” ​Child and

Adolescent Mental Health​, vol. 25, no. 1, Feb. 2020, pp. 48–50. ​EBSCOhost​,

doi:10.1111/camh.12345.

Grabe, S., Ward, L.M., Hyde, J.S. (2008). t​he role of the media in body image concerns among

women: a meta-analysis of experimental and correlational studies​. ​Psychological

Bulletin​; 134(3): 460–476.

Klein, Kendyl M., "why don't I look like her? the impact of social media on female body image"

(2013). CMC Senior Theses. Paper 720. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/720

 Jackson 6

Lazuka, Rebecca F., et al. “are we there yet? progress in depicting diverse images of beauty in

instagram’s body positivity movement.” ​Body Image,​ vol. 34, Sept. 2020, pp. 85–93.

EBSCOhost,​ doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2020.05.001.

Lowes, J. and Tiggemann, M. (2003) body dissatisfaction, dieting awareness and the impact of

parental influence in young children. British Journal of Health Psychology, 8, 135-147.

Mansi, Zoe. “Body Image.” ​Womenshealth.gov,​ 27 Mar. 2019,

www.womenshealth.gov/mental-health/body-image-and-mental-health/body-image.