AN INVESTIGATION OF THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON THE PROCESS OF IDENTITY EXPLORATION AND THE EMERGENCE OF EATING DISORDERS IN STUDENT LIFE

As the physical and psychological well-being has become a cultural and public health focus in Western countries, the impact of social networking sites has been highlighted, especially for the young who are in the process of identity formation. For them, the rapidly evolving social media world is increasing in importance as the main arena for socializing, experimentation, exploration and communication. Studies connect the exposure of adolescents and young adults to social media with body image dissatisfaction and eating disorders (ED), mainly bulimia, anorexia and binge eating. Especially the media cultivating beauty ideals are predictors of the development of eating pathology. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between social media platforms and eating disorders in students and whether their use influences the process of identity formation. With a sample of 158 students from the University of Patras, the measuring instruments used in the study were a structured questionnaire to investigate the effect of social media on eating disorders and the process of identity exploration and the Bulimic Investigatory Test, Edinburgh (BITE) questionnaire to investigate the episodes of binge eating, predisposition to bulimia nervosa and the cognitive and behavioral manifestations of bulimia.  Article visualizations: