Appearance-Based Social Media Use, Body Dissatisfaction, and Mood Among Young Women with High Weight Bias Internalization: Investigating the Roles of Body-Related Shame and Self-Compassion

Abstract

The current study investigated how weight bias internalization (WBI) relates to body dissatisfaction and mood among young women following an upward appearance-based comparison to thin-ideal Instagram imagery, and whether such relationships are mediated by body-related shame and moderated by self-compassion. Undergraduate women (N=109) completed trait measures of WBI and body-related shame in Part I. During Part II, participants were randomly assigned to either 1)compare their body parts to those of thin-ideal Instagram models; or to 2)an appearance-neutral control condition. Participants completed pre(Time 1)/post(Time 2) measures of body dissatisfaction and mood and Time 2 measures of self-compassion and appearance-based comparison. Following upward comparison, higher WBI was related to greater weight and appearance dissatisfaction and depressed mood. At heightened WBI, body-related shame explained elevated appearance-dissatisfaction and self-compassion buffered against increased depression. Findings highlight the need for interventions addressing body dissatisfaction and mood among young women with high WBI in social media contexts.