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Body-Esteem, Self-Esteem and Loneliness among Social Media Young Users

Author

Listed:
  • Lavinia Maria Pop

    (Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iasi, 700554 Iasi, Romania)

  • Magdalena Iorga

    (Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iasi, 700554 Iasi, Romania
    Behavioral Sciences Department, “Grigore T. Popa” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 700115 Iasi, Romania)

  • Raluca Iurcov

    (Dentistry Department, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oradea, 410073 Oradea, Romania)

Abstract

The use of social networking sites for socializing, having fun, solving academic tasks or even getting counselling for health-related problems is now inevitable. Methods: A total of 427 medical students, who are users of social media sites, were included in the research. Data about socio-demographic, anthropometric, and self-rated items regarding satisfaction with physical and mental health were collected. Three psychological tools were also used to measure self-esteem ( Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale) , body-esteem ( Body Esteem Scale for Adolescents and Adults ) and loneliness ( UCLA Loneliness Scale) . Collected data were analyzed using SPSS version 23. Results: Students use these networks for socialization (49.0%), entertainment (31.1%) and academic tasks (19.9%), spending 3.38 ± 0.80 h per day on SNSs. Less than half of them (47.5%) compared themselves to other SNS profiles. The use of Snapchat was found to be strongly positively correlated with self-esteem, and weight status was negatively correlated with the use of TikTok. More than three-quarters declared that they exercised to lose weight or to prevent weight gain. Participants were found to have a high level of body esteem. Almost half of the students proved to have a moderate to a high level of loneliness. Age and gender were found to be important: the younger the user, the higher the scores for loneliness and feeling depressed, and the greater the number of hours on SNSs. The total score for self-esteem was significantly higher in men than in women, and male students appreciated themselves as being in a better state of mental health than women. Conclusions: The results prove a relationship between the use of SNSs and the presence of loneliness, self-esteem and body-esteem, with gender differences. However, the use of SNSs should not be neglected in clinical settings, and are a good means of reaching patients and providing medical and psychological intervention.

Suggested Citation

  • Lavinia Maria Pop & Magdalena Iorga & Raluca Iurcov, 2022. "Body-Esteem, Self-Esteem and Loneliness among Social Media Young Users," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-14, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:9:p:5064-:d:798960
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    References listed on IDEAS

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