Effects of viewing a pro-ana website: an experimental study on body satisfaction, affect, and appearance self-efficacy

Psychological Impact of Pro-Anorexia and Pro-Eating Disorder Websites on Adolescent Females: A Systematic Review

(1) Background: Teenagers (in particular, females) suffering from eating disorders report being not satisfied with their physical aspect and they often perceive their body image in a wrong way; they report an excessive use of websites, defined as PRO-ANA and PRO-MIA, that promote an ideal of thinness, providing advice and suggestions about how to obtain super slim bodies. (2) Aim: The aim of this review is to explore the psychological impact of pro-ana and pro-mia websites on female teenagers. (3) Methods: We have carried out a systematic review of the literature on PubMed. The search terms that have been used are: "Pro" AND "Ana" OR "Blogging" AND "Mia". Initially, 161 publications were identified, but in total, in compliance with inclusion and exclusion criteria, 12 studies have been analyzed. (4) Results: The recent scientific literature has identified a growing number of Pro Ana and Pro Mia blogs which play an important role in the etiology of anorexia and bulimia, above all in female teenagers. The feelings of discomfort and dissatisfaction with their physical aspect, therefore, reduce their self-esteem. (5) Conclusion: These websites encourage anorexic and bulimic behaviors, in particular in female teenagers. Attention to healthy eating guidelines and policies during adolescence, focused on correcting eating behavioral aspects, is very important to prevent severe forms of psychopathology with more vulnerability in the perception of body image, social desirability, and negative emotional feedback.

Personality traits and dysfunctional construal of online health promotion messages

PURPOSE

With the Internet becoming increasingly popular as a source of information, blogs offering healthy lifestyle techniques and knowledge have become popular and accessible. Despite their focus on health, these blogs portray content that may be negatively construed by viewers, especially those with or at risk for eating disorders. The present study investigated changes in affect and self-esteem after viewing a prototypic health blog. Personality traits, specifically neuroticism and conscientiousness, were also investigated.

METHODS

A prototypic health blog was constructed after extensive review of existing blogs. A parallel format was then followed to create a home décor website for a control condition. Female undergraduate students were randomly assigned to one of two blog sites, and participants completed an earlier personality assessment and post-viewing study questionnaires.

RESULTS

Contrary to the hypothesis that readers of the health blog will report more negative outcomes, no main effect of blog condition was found. However, individuals high in trait neuroticism experienced greater differences in negative affect, but not self-esteem, when viewing the health blog versus the control blog.

CONCLUSIONS

This study found that viewing health blogs did not have immediate effects on affect and self-esteem, but more neurotic individuals were more inclined to experience negative affect when viewing health promotion messages. Personality traits assessed prior to the experiment were more predictive of negative affect and self-esteem during the experiment than blog viewing conditions. No level of evidence, experimental study.

A content analysis of thinspiration images and text posts on Tumblr

Thinspiration is content advocating extreme weight loss by means of images and/or text posts. While past content analyses have examined thinspiration content on social media and other websites, no research to date has examined thinspiration content on Tumblr. Over the course of a week, 222 images and text posts were collected after entering the keyword 'thinspiration' into the Tumblr search bar. These images were then rated on a variety of characteristics. The majority of thinspiration images included a thin woman adhering to culturally based beauty, often posing in a manner that accentuated her thinness or sexuality. The most common themes for thinspiration text posts included dieting/restraint, weight loss, food guilt, and body guilt. The thinspiration content on Tumblr appears to be consistent with that on other mediums. Future research should utilize experimental methods to examine the potential effects of consuming thinspiration content on Tumblr.

Experiences of using pro-eating disorder websites: a qualitative study with service users in NHS eating disorder services

PURPOSE

Previous research into the impact of pro-eating disorder (pro-ED) websites has predominantly been undertaken using experimental and survey designs. Studies have used both clinical and non-clinical (college student) samples. The present study aimed to explore the underlying functions and processes related to the access and continued use of pro-ED websites within a clinical eating disorder population using a qualitative research design.

METHODS

Participants were recruited through NHS community mental health teams and specialist eating disorder services within South Wales, UK. Face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven adult women in treatment for an eating disorder who had disclosed current or historic use of pro-ED websites. Interviewees ranged in age from 20 to 40 years (M = 31.2; SD = 7.8). Constructivist Grounded Theory was used to analyse interview transcripts.

RESULTS

Five key themes were identified within the data, namely fear; ambivalence; social comparisons; shame; and pro-ED websites maintaining eating disordered behaviour. The pro-ED websites appeared to offer a sense of support, validation and reassurance to those in the midst of an eating disorder, whilst simultaneously reinforcing and maintaining eating disordered behaviour.

CONCLUSION

Themes are discussed in relation to implications and recommendations for clinical practice. Limitations of the present study and suggestions for future research are also outlined.

The limits to pride: A test of the pro-anorexia hypothesis

Many social psychological models propose that positive self-conceptions promote self-esteem. An extreme version of this hypothesis is advanced in "pro-anorexia" communities: identifying with anorexia, in conjunction with disordered eating, can lead to higher self-esteem. The current study empirically tested this hypothesis. Results challenge the pro-anorexia hypothesis. Although those with higher levels of pro-anorexia identification trended towards higher self-esteem with increased disordered eating, this did not overcome the strong negative main effect of pro-anorexia identification. These data suggest a more effective strategy for promoting self-esteem is to encourage rejection of disordered eating and an anorexic identity.

A Meta-Analysis Examining the Influence of Pro-Eating Disorder Websites on Body Image and Eating Pathology

Previous research has indicated that exposure to pro-eating disorder websites might increase eating pathology; however, the magnitude of this effect is unknown. This study aimed to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine the effect of exposure to pro-eating disorder websites on body image and eating pathology. Studies examining the relationship between exposure to pro-eating disorder websites and eating pathology-related outcomes were included. The systematic review identified nine studies. Findings revealed significant effect sizes of exposure to pro-eating disorder websites on body image dissatisfaction (five studies), d = .41, p = .003; dieting (six studies), d = .68, p < .001, and negative affect (three studies), d = 1.00, p < .001. No effect emerged for bulimic symptoms (four studies), d = .22, p = .73. Findings confirmed the effect of pro-eating disorder websites on body image and eating pathology, highlighting the need for enforceable regulation of these websites.