The Effects of Social Media and Eating Disorders On Adolescent
Girls and Young Adults
Abigail Collins, Katelyn Dustman, Emily Evans, Katie Hansen, Sarah Inhat, Erica O’Rell
Overview
Social media is a part of every day society. It is at
everyone’s tips of their fingers, and allows people to keep
in touch with family and friends on a day to day basis.
However, a problem exists in which too much of a good
thing may be causing issues in one very particular way:
negative body image leading to eating disorders.
Adolescent girls and young women are at risk for
developing these images and behaviors by socially
comparing their posts with their peers. This paper aims to
explore the effects social media has on these young
females. The findings suggest that social media does
indeed correlate with developing a negative body image
and eating disorders. However, there is evidence that some
forms of social media can be beneficial, and it is important
to intervene early to prevent any disordered eating from
happening in the first place.
PICOT Question
Does social media
influence the likelihood of
an eating disorder in the
female gender over
adolescence and young
adulthood?
Bitonte College of Health and Human Services
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Kim Ballone, DNP, FNP-BC
Review of Literature
Saunders and Eaton researched the effects of Facebook
Instagram and Snapchat had on women with disordered eating
patterns. They found that Instagram and Snapchat had a higher
response of negative body comparisons/dissatisfactions. Those
who participated in over-exercising preferred the use of Instagram
and Facebook. Regardless of platform endorsed the links between
upward comparison body dissatisfaction and disordered eating
remained robust (Saunders and Eaton, 2018). Howard et al.
researched if the race of young women plays a role in how social
media influences body dissatisfaction/ disordered eating. They
found that Instagram is most commonly used among black women
and Facebook is most commonly used among white women. They
also found that white women scored higher on their four part
questionnaire, meaning social media had a higher influence on
their body dissatisfaction/ disordered eating. Although Howard et
al. concluded that social networking sites similarly impact both
black and white women. Wilksch et al. found that disordered
eating behaviors increased as did the number of social media
accounts the participant had. The study also found a strong
correlation between social media accounts such as Instagram and
snapchat and disordered eating behaviors. One explanation for
this finding is that both Instagram and snapchat are image sharing
social media accounts. Lewallen and Behm-Morawitz researched
the effects of Pinterest in relation to disordered eating. Lewallen
and Behm-Morawitz found Pinterest has a negative influence on
body image and crash dieting. Women who pinned fitness ideas to
their fit board were more likely to engage in harmful behaviors
such as crash dieting and extreme exercise. Kendal et al studied
whether social media can be used to support those with eating
disorders. The results from this study showed that, although may
research studies disprove the use of social media, social media
can be safe and effective way to support those with eating
disorders. McLean et al. focused on how teaching media literacy
could impact negative health behaviors. Both a reduction in dietary
restraint and improvements in body esteem was reported after the
social media literacy teaching. This type of intervention is
important because it is preventing negative health behaviors such
as eating disorders and negative body image.
Findings
It is clear that social media can have detrimental effects
on adolescent girls and young women. The literature
reviewed has suggested that social media can create
negative body images, leading to shame about
themselves and the way they look. This can ultimately
lead to disordered eating and clinical eating disorders.
However, there are some forms of social media on the
internet that can help these young girls find a source of
support and friendship to help them through these trying
times. They key here, however, is to prevent any of this
from happening in the first place. By gaining media
literacy, one can reduce media’s persuasive influence by
learning how to not compare themselves to the post
viewed as “perfect”.
References
Howard, L. M., Heron, K. E., MacIntyre, R. I., Myers, T. A., & Everhart, R. S. (2017). Is use of 
social networking sites associated with young women’s body dissatisfaction and disordered
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https://doi.org/10.1016/J.BODYIM.2017.08.008
Kendal, S., Kirk, S., Elvey, R., Catchpole, R., & Pryjmachuk, S. (2017). How a moderated
online discussion forum facilitates support for young people with eating disorders. Health
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Kleemans, M., Daalmans S., Carbaat, I. & Anschütz, D. (2018). Picture Perfect: The Direct
Effect of Manipulated Instagram Photos on Body Image in Adolescent Girls. Media
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 Lewallen, J. and Behm-Morawitz, E. (2016). Pinterest or Thinterest?: Social Comparison and
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https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305116640559
McLean, S. A., Wertheim, E. H., Masters, J., & Paxton, S. J. (2017). A pilot evaluation of a
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Saunders, J. F., & Eaton, A. A. (2018). Snaps, Selfies, and Shares: How Three Popular
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Wilksch, S. M., Oshea, A., Ho, P., Byrne, S., & Wade, T. D. (2019). The relationship between
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Department of Nursing