Cyberbullying is Pushing Teenage Girls Towards Cosmetic Procedures

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by MedicalXpress.

Adolescent females subjected to appearance-related cyberbullying are more likely to feel ashamed of their bodies, a desire to change their appearance and suffer eating disorder symptoms, according to UniSC research published in the Journal of Eating Disorders.

University of the Sunshine Coast neuroscience researcher Taliah Prince said the results were concerning, given that appearance-related cyberbullying was the most common form of cyberbullying experienced by adolescent females.

“We found 98% of the adolescent females surveyed had experienced cyberbullying and that the majority of these incidents were appearance-related, where they were teased or insulted about their body weight, shape or physical features,” Ms. Prince said.

“More than 96% of these appearance-related cyberbullying victims expressed a desire to change their appearance as a result—which can lead to harmful behaviors like extreme dieting and excessive exercise—while 81% felt the need to change their appearance through cosmetic procedures.”

Ms. Prince, a Ph.D. candidate at UniSC’s Thompson Institute, said it was believed to be the first study to comprehensively investigate the effects of appearance-related cyberbullying on girls’ mental health and well-being.

“This is important because eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of all psychiatric disorders among adolescent girls, and body dissatisfaction is the leading risk factor for eating disorders,” Ms. Prince said.

“Because appearance-related cyberbullying is associated with body dissatisfaction and eating disorder symptoms, we must understand its prevalence and impact and how it might be contributing to these serious mental health conditions.”

The findings demonstrate the profound consequences of appearance-related cyberbullying at a particularly vulnerable time in brain development.

Source: MedicalXpress
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-09-reveals-cyberbullying-teenage-girls-cosmetic.html