ASSOCIATION BETWEEN DISORDERED EATING BEHAVIOURS AND SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE IN YOUNG ADULTS A CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY

Background: Disordered eating behaviours(DEB) have increased significantly in recent times, especially among young adults. These behaviours are the result of several variables, including conventional beauty ideals. Social media plays a significant role by popularizing unrealistic beauty standards. The correlation between DEB and the use of social media has not been adequately explored in young adults.

Methodology: Data from engineering students (n = 690 mean age = 19.5) was collected. Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26) was used to determine DEB and social media disorder (SMD) scale was used to determine disordered social media usage. Chi-square test was applied to find the association between DEB and problematic usage of social media.

Results: Out of 690 sample size, 53.6 % of the sample were female and 46.4% were male. DEB were reported by 44.2% of which 15.2% were female and 29.0% were male with dieting being the most common disordered eating behavior. A total of 31.9% reported problematic or disordered social media usage of which 15.2% were female and 16.7% were male. A Significant association was found between DEB and disordered social media usage with p value=0.000 and  áµ¡Â² value= 15.06. A Significant association was also found between DEB and male sex with p value=0.000 and  áµ¡Â² value= 16.2.

Conclusion: The results of this study point to a correlation between DEB and problematic usage of social media in young adults.