Strong Correlations between Social Appearance Anxiety, Use of Social Media, and Feelings of Loneliness in Adolescents and Young Adults

Triada Konstantina Papapanou, Christina Darviri, Christina Kanaka-Gantenbein, Xanthi Tigani, Maria Michou, Dimitrios Vlachakis, George P. Chrousos and Flora Bacopoulou ()
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Triada Konstantina Papapanou: Postgraduate Course of Science of Stress and Health Promotion, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 115 27 Athens, Greece
Christina Darviri: Postgraduate Course of Science of Stress and Health Promotion, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 115 27 Athens, Greece
Christina Kanaka-Gantenbein: Postgraduate Course of Science of Stress and Health Promotion, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 115 27 Athens, Greece
Xanthi Tigani: Postgraduate Course of Science of Stress and Health Promotion, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 115 27 Athens, Greece
Maria Michou: Postgraduate Course of Science of Stress and Health Promotion, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 115 27 Athens, Greece
Dimitrios Vlachakis: University Research Institute of Maternal and Child Health & Precision Medicine, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 115 27 Athens, Greece
George P. Chrousos: University Research Institute of Maternal and Child Health & Precision Medicine, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 115 27 Athens, Greece
Flora Bacopoulou: University Research Institute of Maternal and Child Health & Precision Medicine, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 115 27 Athens, Greece

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 5, 1-10

Abstract: Social appearance anxiety is a type of social anxiety that is associated with body image perception and exacerbated by the use of social media, leading to feelings of loneliness. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to examine the relations between social appearance anxiety, use of social media, and feelings of loneliness in Greek adolescents and young adults. The sample of the research consisted of 632 participants, 439 women (69.5%) and 193 men (30.5%), aged 18–35 years. The Social Appearance Anxiety Scale (SAAS), the Social Media Disorder Scale (SMDS), and the UCLA Loneliness Scale were the instruments used. Data collection was performed online, via Google forms. Multiple regression analyses were performed and demonstrated a significant positive correlation between the Social Appearance Anxiety Scale and the UCLA Loneliness Scale scores. The feeling of loneliness was predicted by the social appearance anxiety score ( p < 0.0001). On the other hand, there was a significant negative correlation between the Social Appearance Anxiety Scale and the Social Media Disorder Scale scores ( p = 0.002), suggesting that social media use may exacerbate appearance anxiety and, hence, loneliness. The findings suggest that there may be a complex, vicious reverberatory cycle between appearance anxiety, use of social media, and feelings of loneliness in some young people.

Keywords: social appearance anxiety; social media; internet; loneliness; adolescents; young adults (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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