Social Psychiatry, Vol. 52 No. 2, 2024.
Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.24869/spsih.2024.109
The Relationship Between Health-Related Social Media Content Consumption and Sociocultural Pressures to Be Thin Among Young Women in Croatia
Mirta Blažev
; Institute of Social Sciences “Ivo Pilar”, Zagreb, Croatia
Divna Blažev
; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Ivan Dević
orcid.org/0000-0003-0163-3371
; Institute of Social Sciences “Ivo Pilar”, Zagreb, Croatia
Anita Lauri Korajlija
; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between health-related social media content consumption and
the perceived media and peer pressures for being thin and dieting. The study involved 352 young women from Croatia,
between 18 and 21 years of age. An online questionnaire was used to collect data on their social media use, the perceived
media and peer pressures relating to appearance, and their dieting behavior. The results indicate that young women
from Croatia mostly use Instagram to follow health-related content, and the majority of them spend up to 30 minutes
per day following this type of content on social media. The use of social media, as well as the media and peer pressures
experienced by young women to be thin, directly predicted their dieting behavior. At the same time, health-related content
consumption indirectly predicted dieting as well, but only through pressure that young women experience from the
media. The findings of this study are useful for designing future interventions with the aim of alleviating the experience
of sociocultural pressures and reducing dieting among young women who follow health-related content on social media.
Keywords
Social Media; Sociocultural Pressure; Appearance; Diet; Health
Hrčak ID:
320429
URI
Publication date:
28.8.2024.
Visits: 124 *