(PS5-74) The role of body-focused content exposure and appearance-related consciousness on social media on eating disorder symptomatology

Abstract Text: The ways in which people use social media, who they follow, and the content they engage with have gained further attention in recent years. It has been suggested that greater social media use is associated with lower body image satisfaction and a higher prevalence of eating disorder symptomatology. Engaging with thinspiration, fitspiration, or other health-focused content has been associated with poorer body image outcomes and eating disorder symptomatology. However, less is known about the impact of body-focused content exposure on eating disorder outcomes. We sought to address this gap by assessing body-focused content exposure on social media and examining its associations with eating disorder symptomatology. Furthermore, we sought to understand how one’s focus on their appearance on social media moderates the relationship between self-reported body-focused content exposure and eating disorder symptomatology. A sample of 378 undergraduates (Mage: 18.47, 70% assigned female at birth) completed the anonymous online survey. The Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q) global score was utilized to examine the overall presence of eating disorder symptomatology. The Appearance-related Social Media Consciousness (ASMC) scale was utilized to assess one’s awareness and concern about their appearance on social media. Finally, body-focused content exposure was measured by assessing self-reported frequency of exposure to revealing body parts and other forms of body-revealing imagery on social media. A linear regression with moderation was conducted, with age and sex assigned at birth added as predictors. ASMC and content exposure total scores were mean-centered. ASMC (β= 0.42), body-focused content exposure (β= 0.12), and sex (β= -0.13) were significant predictors of total eating disorder symptomatology. However, there was no significant moderation between ASMC and content exposure. The results indicate that the degree to which one attends to their appearance on social media does not moderate the relationship between body-focused content exposure and the presence of eating disorder symptomatology. However, greater appearance-related consciousness and greater body-focused content exposure on social media were significant predictors of higher levels of eating disorder symptomatology. Additionally, those assigned female at birth reported significantly higher levels of eating disorder symptomatology (t(292.16) = 6.30, p < .001), which was a significant predictor in the model. The results reinforce the relationship between social media use, specifically body-focused content exposure on social media, and body image outcomes and eating disorder symptomatology. Future research should examine other elements that might function as mediators or moderators to understand the relationship between content on social media and health outcomes.