Body Image and Social Interactions During the COVID-19 Pandemic

• In Event: Poster Session 03
  In Poster Session: PS 03 Topic - Social, Emotional, Personality

Abstract

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, adolescents have likely begun to have more social interactions online. This shift has the potential to impact youth’s body image beliefs, as peers significantly influence how girls and boys think about their bodies (e.g., Jones et al., 2004). However, most body image research is based on in-person interactions (Nezlek, 2001), with less known about how online contact may be associated with adolescents' body satisfaction. This work follows a diverse sample of high school students after their transition to remote learning, examining the relationship between body satisfaction and their online interactions with friends. We hypothesized that, for both boys and girls, body satisfaction would be negatively associated with their online contact with friends, but positively associated with feelings of social connectedness.
This project drew from a sample of 132 high school students (50.8% girls, 48.5% boys). The sample is highly ethnically diverse, consisting of 38.6% Asian, 36.4% White students, 16.7% Multiracial/Other, 6.1% Latinx, and 1.5% Black,. Data were collected from a longitudinal daily survey study measuring adolescents’ peer experiences and adjustment. Students were provided with five online surveys over the course of 2 weeks. Bivariate correlations and multivariate analyses of variance were conducted to identify links between students’ body satisfaction and their social relationships and experiences.
Our findings indicated differential links between social interactions and body satisfaction for boys and girls. In line with prior research, we found no significant differences between boys’ (M = 3.23, SD = 0.44) and girls’ (M = 3.10, SD = 0.65) body satisfaction (t (112) = 1.25, p = .214). That said, the link between spending time with friends electronically and body satisfaction was negative for boys, r (51) = -0.29, p = .04). Among girls, spending time with friends in person was positively associated with body satisfaction, r (57) = 0.444, p < .001) and reporting a sense of social connectedness with their friends, r (55) = 0.296, p = .03). The amount of time students spent on social media, r (91) = 0.74, p = .485) was not associated with their body satisfaction.
Within the current health crisis, peer interactions appear significantly, and sometimes surprisingly, linked with adolescents’ body satisfaction. During this unusual time, young girls may not be receiving the same kinds or amounts of negative body image feedback they usually would (e.g., from school peers), therefore improving their body satisfaction. In addition, with social contact limited but likely highly sought after, these girls may be restricting their online interactions to only their closest friends. These people might provide more positive body image feedback than do other, more general peers. By contrast, boys may not be as discerning with their online contacts, choosing to spend time with friends who do not provide positive body image feedback (Aukett, Ritchie, & Mill 1988). This work provides important implications for students, parents, and teachers about how to best navigate or help adolescents navigate online interactions in order to promote body satisfaction.

Authors

• Nicole Angelina Johnston, University of California - Davis
  Presenting Author

• Michael Alan Medina, Boston University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Melissa R Witkow, Willamette University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Adrienne Nishina, University of California - Davis
  Non-Presenting Author