Today’s adolescents also spend lots of time on social media, which has implications for mental health, DiLossi says. A study published in October 2018 in the Journal of Affective Disorders found a small but significant positive association between social media use and depressive symptoms.
This also ties into body image, which is often worsened by social media. “It is social comparison on steroids,” DiLossi says. A study published in March 2021 in the journal Body Image surveyed adolescents between the ages of 11 and 17 and found that higher consumption of appearance-focused social media content (in which the posters portray “an idealized version of their appearance”) was associated with lower body satisfaction and well-being.
And this dissatisfaction isn’t just about body shape and size. Many users and influencers talk about cosmetic procedures like lip fillers and Botox, and use editing apps to alter the look of their skin, hair, teeth, and facial features, DiLossi says. This creates an even more unrealistic standard for what people “should” look like, DiLossi says.
Additionally, children and teenagers are exploring gender and sexual identities at this age (and research would suggest in different ways than generations past).
“The overlap with physical appearance and body shape and size is significant in relation to gender identification and sexual identity,” says Allison Chase, PhD, an Austin, Texas–based clinical psychologist and certified eating disorder specialist supervisor at the Eating Recovery Center. Young people who are exploring their gender or sexual identities might feel distressed about their appearance if it doesn’t match up with the societal ideal of what someone with their gender or sexual identity is supposed to look like, she says.