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Social Media Boundaries




Earlier this week on Instagram, a post was made quoting information from a 2024 study titled, “Screen time, problematic screen use, and eating disorder symptoms among early adolescents: findings from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study”. If you are interested in learning more about the study than what could fit in an Instagram post, you’re in the right place.


This particular study looked to explore how increased screen time, particularly problematic screen use (“defined as the preoccupation with and compulsion to excessively engage in social media platforms”) may contribute to eating disorder (ED) symptom development in early adolescents.


Using data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, researchers assessed behaviors like compulsive use and dependence on various screen-based activities, especially social media, gaming, and TV. The findings indicate that higher levels of screen exposure, especially social media, are linked to a greater likelihood of ED symptoms, such as “fear of weight gain, self-worth tied to weight, compensatory behaviors to prevent weight gain, binge eating, and distress with binge eating two years later”.


The researchers emphasized the concerning impact of problematic screen use, suggesting that certain online environments, particularly those with high social comparison pressures, may contribute to negative body image and disordered eating behaviors. Additionally, the study found that these associations were more pronounced in females, which aligns with previous research showing higher vulnerability to social media influences on body image in females.


The findings calls for more awareness and interventions aimed at promoting healthier screen use habits, for clinicians, families and educators alike; as clinicians, it should be commonplace to assess for screen use and, when high or problematic, screen for disordered eating in clients to reduce the potential risks associated with excessive and problematic screen time for development of EDs.


For families or individuals, if you are looking to be more mindful of social media boundaries, this post from the blog may be useful. And please know if you are struggling with social media and/or any amount of disordered eating, you deserve support and should reach out to a clinician or trusted support person.







Reference: Chu, J., Ganson, K.T., Testa, A. et al. Screen time, problematic screen use, and eating disorder symptoms among early adolescents: findings from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study. Eat Weight Disord 29, 57 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-024-01685-1

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