People at-risk of an Eating Disorder are more likely to endorse dietary misinformation claims and hold rigid beliefs.

Abstract

People are exposed to misinformation about dieting practices every day on social media which can influence their health and wellbeing. While misinformation research has largely focused on general vulnerabilities to misinformation and strategies to counteract its spread, limited work has examined how specific harmful content, such as dietary misinformation, influences vulnerable groups, particularly those at risk of eating disorders (EDs). This study investigated whether individuals at risk of an ED were more likely to endorse Dietary Misinformation. After completing measures of dietary intentions, health conscientiousness and weight concern, 215 participants completed a behavioural measure of belief rigidity (i.e. Bias Against Disconfirmatory Evidence; BADE), and measures of general and diet-specific misinformation susceptibility. The findings suggest that participants who score highly on weight concern (ie, potentially at risk for an ED), were less likely to show belief flexibility and integrate new evidence and are more inclined to endorse diet-specific misinformation. This research highlights the broader importance of drawing attention to how particular misinformation online can affect the wellbeing of those potentially in vulnerable groups, in this case those at ED risk.