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The Effects of Social Media and Body Image in Teenagers: A Literature Review

Kamesha Jackson

Appalachian State University

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Kamesha Jackson

Vicki LeQuire

RC 2001-101

5 October 2020

Literature Review

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

Social media includes both websites and applications that allow users to create or share content.

It has the capacity to reach millions of people at once at such easy access for all ages. The

negative impacts outweigh the positive impacts on teenagers today. So how does social media

impact our development and body image and in what ways could it impact patient care?

The Importance of Body Image

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

argues that b​ody image is the subjective picture of individuals of their own body, irrespective of

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

those factors being social media. Ultimately, an individual's self image can develop around the

age of 5 years old. Because social media can be accessed by any age, the impact can begin at the

early stage of one’s early childhood. (Fardouly & Vartanian 2015) argues that people tend to

judge their body dissatisfaction on “the difference between an ideal body shape/size and

perceived own body shape/size. Body image starts to develop at such a young age and continues

into adulthood. The access to social media at young ages can cause individuals to create a false

perception of what they should look like and in turn cause mental illnesses.
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(setup to follow introductory paragraphs)

Pros and Cons of Social Media

- Use pros of social media as counterargument.

- Use the cons of social media to support arguments.

- Use this section to stress the importance of the high usage of social media in today’s

society.

Body Image and Social Media

- Discuss the relationship between the two.

- Importance of the impacts of social media.

- Explain how it directly affects teens/other factors that may impact body image.

Patient Care

- How might teen patients react to procedures?

- Will teen patients be comfortable expressing problems about their bodies?

- Does social media impact teen patients' mental health?

- How might doctors be able to recognise and diagnose issues early in teens when it comes

to body image?

Conclusion

- State official viewpoint on the connection between body image and social media.

- Reveal the connection of both social media and body image and its impact on teenage

patients.

- Describe what can be done to create a positive and safe space within social media for all

body types and individuals.

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Works Cited

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.

Fardouly, J., & Vartanian, L. R. (2016). Social Media and Body Image Concerns: Current

Research and Future Directions. ​Current Opinion in Psychology,​ ​9,​ 1-5.

doi: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). ​The 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

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.