Nowadays, it’s no surprise that young women struggle with their self-esteem. Impressionable teenagers and young adults are constantly bombarded online with images of thin, flawless models.
But experts have found that simply taking a week away from social media can have a huge impact on young women’s body image.
And those who crave a lean physique appeared to benefit the most.
Researchers at York University in Toronto recruited 66 female students to participate in their week-long study. Half were randomly assigned a week-long break from social media, which included Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok, while the other half were told to continue normal use.
Experts have found that simply taking a week away from social media can have a huge impact on young women’s body image (file image)
All surveys completed before and after the study, covering topics such as body image and self-esteem.
The analysis revealed that those who took a break reported higher body satisfaction and higher self-esteem than those who continued using social media normally.
The benefits were especially pronounced for women who had reported higher levels of “thin-ideal internalization,” meaning they believed that thin or underweight was the ideal body type.
Psychology professor Jennifer Mills, co-author of the paper, said: “We don’t often see such large effect sizes in my area of psychology research because human behavior is complicated and there is a lot of variability.”
The analysis revealed that those who took a break reported higher body satisfaction and higher self-esteem than those who continued using social media normally (file image)
“We hope this study can be used to help protect young people and influence social media companies to give users more agency in the way they interact with these platforms.”
The article, published in the journal Body Image, is believed to be the first to specifically look at social media breaks and body image.
Professor Mills said the differences in the social media landscape were notable compared to when she began researching eating disorders and media effects.
“Back then, you could only spend a few minutes or hours looking at fashion and beauty magazines and they only came out once a month,” she said.
‘There was a finite amount of content that you would be exposed to. With social media, it’s endless.”