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A study of adolescent girls in Australia found that 62% experienced cyberbullying related to their appearance. Girls teased or insulted about their body shape, weight, or physical features are more likely to resort to extreme dieting or consider cosmetic surgery. The paper was published in the Journal of Eating Disorders.
Cyberbullying is a form of harassment that occurs online, through digital devices, such as social media, messaging apps, or gaming platforms. It includes sending mean messages, spreading rumors, sharing embarrassing photos or videos, or excluding someone from online groups. Unlike traditional bullying, cyberbullying can happen anytime and reach a wide audience instantly, making it difficult for victims to escape.
Research indicates that the impact of cyberbullying can be particularly severe during adolescence. Adolescence is a time when children’s bodies undergo rapid transformation as they mature into adults. This makes adolescents particularly sensitive to issues related to their bodies and potentially vulnerable to cyberbullying focused on their appearance, body shape, size, or physical features. Exposure to this type of bullying can lead to heightened body dissatisfaction and even disordered eating, particularly among adolescent girls.
Study author Taliah Prince and her colleagues sought to investigate the effects of appearance-related cyberbullying on body image and mental health in Australian adolescent girls. Specifically, they aimed to understand how common appearance-related cyberbullying is, what forms it takes, and its psychological impacts. The researchers define appearance-related cyberbullying as “online harassment or criticism focused on physical appearance, including aspects such as weight, body shape, and facial features.”
The study participants included 336 girls between the ages of 14 and 19, recruited from the general community and the study authors’ university. Of these, 85% were attending secondary school at the time of the study.
Participants completed an online survey with assessments of cyberbullying and cybervictimization (the Berlin Cyberbullying-Cybervictimization Questionnaire), appearance-related cyberbullying (three assessments created by the study authors), body satisfaction (the Body Shape Questionnaire Subscale), body esteem (the Body Esteem Scale for Adolescents and Adults), body shame (the Body Image Shame Scale), body appreciation (the Body Appreciation Scale – 2), and eating disorder symptoms (the Chile Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire).
The assessments for appearance-related cyberbullying focused on the roles participants took in cyberbullying (whether as bullies, victims, or both), types of appearance-related cyberbullying experienced (such as comments on body shape, body size, specific body attributes, disability, changes to appearance, facial features, clothing, skin color, body tone, age, or muscularity), and the impact of this type of bullying on the desire to change physical appearance.
Results showed that 98% of participants reported experiencing at least one form of cyberbullying. Sixty-two percent reported experiencing appearance-related cyberbullying. Among those who experienced cyberbullying, 76% reported both bullying others and being a victim of cyberbullying, while 21% were only victims, and 1% reported bullying others without being bullied themselves.
Fifty percent reported being exclusively victims of appearance-related bullying, 3% reported bullying others about appearance (without being bullied themselves), and 10% reported both bullying others and being bullied.
Body shape and size (such as fatness or thinness) were the most frequently targeted attributes. Other frequently targeted features included breasts and buttocks, facial appearance, clothing and style, body tone, and muscularity, though these were less frequently targeted than body shape and size. Victims of cyberbullying, whether they were only victims or also bullied others, reported lower body satisfaction and more symptoms of eating disorders.
Participants experiencing higher levels of cyberbullying expressed a stronger desire to change their physical appearance, self-presentation, and appearance through cosmetic procedures.
“The research identified a strong positive correlation between experiences of appearance-related cybervictimization and heightened concerns about body shape, body shame, and symptoms of eating disorders. Inversely, these experiences were linked to lower body esteem and body appreciation. Additionally, ARC-victimization [appearance-related cyberbullying victimization] was associated with the inclination among adolescent females towards changing their appearance through dieting, exercising, altering self-presentation, and considering cosmetic procedures,” the study authors concluded.
The study contributes to the scientific understanding of the links between cyberbullying and body image. However, the study was based solely on self-reports, leaving room for reporting bias to affect the results.
The paper, “Appearance-related cyberbullying and its association with the desire to alter physical appearance among adolescent females,” was authored by Taliah Prince, Kate E. Mulgrew, Christina Driver, Lia Mills, Jehan Loza, and Daniel F. Hermens.
