INFLUENCIA DEL USO DE REDES SOCIALES SOBRE LA CONFORMIDAD CON LA IMAGEN CORPORAL

Abstract

Introduction: Body image dissatisfaction is associated with psychophysical morbidity. Exposure to cultural messages about physical or beauty ideals is one of the studied factors which initiate body image dissatisfaction. This work explores the relationship between social media use and preoccupation with one's own body, the desire for a diet to lose weight, and the generation of obsessive thoughts about body shape and size during the period of Social Preventive and Mandatory Isolation (SPMI). Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out using an online questionnaire of participants over 18 years residing in Argentina. Demographic information, anthropometric data, conformity with body image and the influence of the use of social media on body image and conformity with one's own body were evaluated. Results: 2236 individuals participated in this study (85,5% women) with a mean age of 38.88±15.20 years and a mean IMC of 25.55±5.36 kg/m2. Thirty-four percent of the sample expressed that they never or hardly ever were satisfied with their bodies and 66% referred to a feeling of fault when they overindulge in food. Sixty-eight percent stated that they had been afraid of gaining weight at some moment in their life. The multivariate analysis showed an inverse relationship between age and perception of social media’s negative influence on their body image, and that they increased their desire to diet to lose weight. The negative social media effect was significantly higher in participants who presented body dissatisfaction previous to the SPMI. Conclusion: The increase in social media use during the pandemic was reflected in the level of body dissatisfaction in the most vulnerable group of this sample. Keywords: body image; social media; body image dissatisfaction; pandemic.