News Article: Adolescent Girls Who Spend More Time on Facebook, More Likely to Develop Eating Disorders

A recent study has discovered that the more time adolescent girls spend in front of the computer on Facebook, the higher their chances are for developing negative body images and eating disorders. The study was conducted by the University of Haifa.

The purpose of the research was to investigate the relationship between girls’ internet and television viewing habits and the presence of eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia and exaggerated dieting. The study contained a group of 248 girls between the ages of 12 and 19 years old (average age: 14.8 years old). The girls completed questionnaires regarding the topics of investigation.

Of all the media content, the findings related to Facebook stuck out in particular. The study found that girls who spent the most time on Facebook suffered the most from symptoms of bulimia and anorexia and also had the highest levels of reported physical dissatisfaction, negative self-image, negative approach to eating, and urge to be on a diet.

Although high levels of internet exposure to fashion and music content correlated with these tendencies as well, they were not related to as many types of eating disorders as extensive Facebook exposure was. Another important finding was that the higher a girl’s level of self-empowerment was, the lower her chances were for developing an eating disorder. And self-empowerment was found to be associated with parenting practices.

“The study has shown that a parent has the potential ability to prevent dangerous behavioral disorders and negative eating behavior in particular,” the researchers said.

Daughters of parents who were involved in their media usage – who knew what they were viewing, who viewed media content along with them, and engaged in critical discussions with their daughters about the content – showed higher levels of self-empowerment which protected against eating disorders.

Those parents who were not involved in their daughter’s media usage – who were unaware of what their daughters were viewing and did not engage in discussions about their daughter’s media consumption habits – had daughters with lower levels of self-empowerment who were more likely to develop eating disorders.