Social media usage among teens is more prevalent than ever before. In recent years, researchers have begun investigating how much social media affects teen weight concerns and body image issues. A new study from the University of Minnesota College of Education and Human Development and Stanford University uses an innovative method to track teen's social media usage and body image over time.
The study, published in JAMA Pediatrics, followed a group of 154 teenagers ages 13 to 17 over the course of six months. The researchers used an app called Screenomics, which runs in the background of smartphones and takes screenshots to track social media usage. The participating teenagers used social media between zero and over eight hours daily during the study period.
The team examined all social media apps, and focused on six of the most popular: Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, Discord, X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok. They also sent regular surveys to the study participants to understand weight concerns and dieting frequency.
They found:
- The innovative Screenomics tool allowed for objective measurement of social media use. This is a major improvement from previous studies, which relied on self-reported data that was often inaccurate and biased.
- Teens typically spent just over an hour each day using social media, with some spending over eight hours daily online. However, the amount of time teens spent across all social media apps was not associated with weight concerns or dieting.
- Teens who used Snapchat, TikTok and X for longer periods of time reported more weight concerns than their peers who used these platforms less often.
"Although many people are still worried about screen time, when it comes to teen social media use, duration of screen time may be less important than the content on these platforms," said lead author Xiaoran Sun, an assistant professor in the College of Education and Human Development. "We now know that certain platforms expose teens to more potentially harmful content than others. To protect teen mental health and body image in the future, we'll need to explore ways to limit exposure to that content."
Future research will build on the Screenomics tool to determine what social media content is related to negative body image issues, such as unrealistic body images, eating disorder groups and advertising for weight loss drugs.
University of Minnesota collaborators include Ting Xu, a graduate student in the College of Education and Human Development.
Research was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, the Stanford Maternal and Child Health Research Institute, the Department of Pediatrics at Stanford University, and the University of Minnesota Grant-in-Aid of Research, Artistry, and Scholarship program.
About the College of Education and Human Development
The University of Minnesota College of Education and Human Development strives to teach, advance research and engage with the community to increase opportunities for all individuals. As the third largest college on the Twin Cities campus, CEHD research and specialties focus on a range of challenges, including: educational equity, teaching and learning innovations, children's mental health and development, family resilience, and healthy aging. Learn more at cehd.umn.edu.
