(PS5-57) To Seek or Not to Seek: Appearance Feedback on Social Media

Background: Adolescent social media use, specifically motivations for use (e.g., escapism, appearance feedback; Jarman et al., 2021), is associated with mental health difficulties including body dissatisfaction, eating disorders (ED), and anxiety (Course-Choi & Hammond, 2021; Holland & Tiggemann, 2016; Keles et al., 2019). Appearance-related safety behaviors (ARSB), checking or fixing appearance to reduce perceived threat related to appearance, are also associated with emotional disorders, body dysmorphia (BDD), and ED, especially during adolescence (Bilsky et al., 2022; Summers & Cougle, 2018). Interestingly, receiving appearance feedback from peers has not been associated with body dissatisfaction (deVries et al., 2015). However, no work has examined links between social media motivations, ARSB, and mental health outcomes. We hypothesized that the motivation to use social media for appearance-related feedback would moderate associations between ARSB and outcomes such as BDD, ED, and anxiety.

Methods: Adolescents (n=400; 47% female; 65% white) aged 12-18 (M = 15.97, SD =1.43) were recruited via social media to complete online surveys including the Social Media Motivations Scale, ARSB Scale, Children’s Eating Attitudes Test, Body Image Questionnaire, and the RCADS. Correlations between main variables were analyzed. Moderation analyses were run using the PROCESS Macro in SPSS.



Results: Partially consistent with hypotheses, for BDD a significant omnibus regression model emerged, F(3,395) = 57.83, p < .001, explaining 30.5% of the variance in BDD symptoms.  There was a significant main effect of ARSB, b =1.09, p < .001, but neither the main effect for appearance feedback motivations (p = .271) nor the interaction between ARSB and appearance feedback motivations (p = .188) were significant. For ED a significant omnibus regression model emerged, F(3,395) = 32.56, p < .001, explaining 19.8% of the variance in ED symptoms. There was a significant main effect of ARSB, b =0.55, p<em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> < .001, and a significant main effect for appearance feedback motivations, b =-0.33 p = .034. The interaction between ARSB and appearance feedback motivations was not significant (p = .188). For anxiety symptoms a significant omnibus regression model emerged, F(3,395) = 123.73, p < .001, explaining 48.5% of the variance in anxiety symptoms. There was a significant main effect of ARSB, b =1.41, p < .001, but neither the main effect for appearance feedback motivations (p = .180), nor the interaction between ARSB and appearance feedback motivations (p = .408) were significant.



Conclusion: Consistent with the literature, ARSB were significantly associated with BDD, ED, and anxiety. Interestingly, for adolescents with BDD and anxiety symptoms, appearance feedback does not seem to be linked to symptoms, nor does it interact with ARSB. It’s possible that these adolescents avoid seeking appearance feedback online, or that this is just not a motivation for their social media use. There was an inverse relation between appearance feedback and ED symptoms, suggesting that adolescents with ED symptoms may specifically avoid seeking appearance feedback online. Further research is needed to explore how specific social media motivations relate to adolescent well-being.