Screen use while eating is associated with lower intuitive eating and higher disordered eating in Chinese adult men and women

Exploring the associations between muscularity teasing and eating and body image disturbances in Chinese men and women

This study described muscularity teasing in both men and women and explored its associations with eating and body image disturbances in adults from China. A total of 900 Chinese adults (50% women) were recruited online. Correlation and regression analyses were conducted to examine the relationships between muscularity teasing and a battery of measures on eating and body image disturbances. Gender differences in the associations were examined. Men reported more muscularity teasing than women (31.6% men vs. 15.6% women; χ2(1,N = 900) = 31.99, p < .001). Muscularity teasing was significantly and positively correlated with all measures in both men and women. Muscularity teasing explained significant, unique variance in all measures for men and women, except for body fat dissatisfaction in women, beyond covariates (i.e., age, body mass index, and weight teasing). The relationships between muscularity teasing and eating and body image disturbances were generally stronger in men than women. Findings further suggest that muscularity teasing is an important factor related to eating and body image disturbances in men and women, but muscularity teasing might be more detrimental to men's eating behaviors and body image. Future research is needed to further explore the directionality and mechanisms of the links between muscularity teasing and eating and body image disturbances.

Associations between screen use while eating and eating disorder symptomatology: Exploring the roles of mindfulness and intuitive eating

Screen use while eating has been recently identified as a highly common and potentially important specific setting of screen use in relation to eating disorder symptomatology. However, given this area of research is still in its infancy, how screen use while eating may be related to eating disorder symptomatology remains largely unexplored. To fill this gap, the present study probed the potential roles of mindfulness and intuitive eating in the association between screen use while eating and eating disorder symptomatology. A large sample of Chinese adults (N = 800, aged 18-67 years old) recruited through a Chinese survey platform, Credamo, completed questionnaires assessing screen use while eating, eating disorder symptomatology, mindfulness, and intuitive eating. Structural equation modeling was used to test the proposed model. Results confirmed our hypotheses that the association between screen use while eating and eating disorder symptomatology was partially explained by mindfulness and intuitive eating, after adjusting for covariates (e.g., gender, age, body mass index, total screen time, and social media use). That said, higher screen use while eating was associated first with lower mindfulness and then with lower intuitive eating, which in turn were related to higher eating disorder symptomatology. The findings underline the importance of including eating-specific screen use for future research on eating disorder symptomatology and also have implications for an integrative intervention of mindfulness-based approaches and intuitive eating for mitigating the adverse effects of excessive screen use on eating behaviors.

Validation of the Appearance-Related Social Media Consciousness Scale with Chinese adolescents and young adults

Research has revealed a negative association between appearance-related social media consciousness (ASMC) and mental health, but the impact of this association in the Chinese population remains understudied. This study examined the psychometric properties of the ASMC scale among Chinese adolescents and young adults and to further investigate the scale's measurement invariance and differences in ASMC across gender and age groups. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to examine the ASMC scale's factorial structure among Chinese adolescents and young adults, including 1109 adolescents (50.0% boys) aged 12-18 (mean, 14.89) years and 457 young adults (42.5% men) aged 18-25 (mean, 20.75) years. The measurement invariance across gender and age groups, internal consistency and convergent validity were examined. ASMC scale was found to have a unidimensional structure and to be invariant across gender and age groups. It exhibited excellent internal consistency and strong construct validity. Moderate gender differences and pronounced age differences in ASMC scale scores were observed. Our findings support the validity of the ASMC scale as an effective instrument for the measurement of appearance-related social media consciousness experience among Chinese young adults and adolescents. Further study is required to evaluate the status of ASMC as a risk factor for disordered eating and target for preventive interventions within Chinese samples.