Adolescents’ Social Network Site Use, Appearance Training, and Body Dissatisfaction: Testing a Mediation Model

• In Event: The Media, the Body, and the Self

Abstract

Previous correlational research has indicated that social network site use is negatively related to body image among adolescent girls. However, little is known about the causal direction of this effect, the mechanisms underlying this effect, and whether this effect also occurs among boys to the same extent as among girls. The present two-wave panel study among 604 Dutch adolescents (aged 11-18; 50.7% female; 97.7% native Dutch) aimed to fill these gaps in knowledge. Structural equation modeling showed that social network site use predicted increased body dissatisfaction and increased appearance training over time. Appearance training did not predict body dissatisfaction and did not mediate the effect of social network site use on body dissatisfaction. Social network sites impacted the body image of boys and girls to the same extent. These results show that social network sites can play an adverse role in the body image of both adolescent boys and girls.

Authors

• Dian Afina de Vries, Amsterdam School of Communication Research

• Jochen Peter, U of Amsterdam

• Hanneke de Graaf, Rutgers WPF

• Peter Nikken, Netherlands Youth Institute/Erasmus U Rotterdam