Status update: maladaptive Facebook usage predicts increases in body dissatisfaction and bulimic symptoms

Background: The current study examined the effects of online social evaluations and comparisons on body dissatisfaction and bulimic symptoms.

Methods: We tested the effects of maladaptive Facebook usage (defined as the tendency to seek negative social evaluations and/or engage in social comparisons via Facebook) on body dissatisfaction and bulimic symptoms in a sample of 232 college females followed for approximately 4 weeks.

Results: Results provided evidence that maladaptive Facebook usage significantly predicted increases in bulimic symptoms and episodes of over-eating approximately four weeks later. Body dissatisfaction was found to fully mediate the relationship between maladaptive Facebook usage and increases in over-eating episodes, whereas body dissatisfaction partially mediated the relationship between maladaptive Facebook usage and increases in bulimic symptoms more broadly.

Limitations: Limitations include the use of a novel measure of maladaptive Facebook usage due to the absence of an existing measure and a non-clinical sample.

Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that reducing maladaptive Facebook usage may be a fruitful target for interventions aimed at reducing body dissatisfaction and symptoms of eating pathology.