Role of Social Media in the Rising Body Dissatisfaction and Dysmorphia Among Adolescents

Background The growing use of social media has a major impact on people's lives, especially adolescents. Teenagers tend to upload pictures, reels, and stories to keep up with the latest trends, seek approval from society, and gain self-worth. Influencers' heavy use of photoshopped, edited images using filters is setting certain unreal beauty standards, and adolescents trying to copy them is leading to an increase in body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). Aim and objective This study aimed to study the prevalence of BDD in adolescents and its association with social media usage. Material and methods A descriptive cross-sectional, validated questionnaire-based study was conducted among adolescents in the age group of 13-18 years by the Department of Pediatrics of Acharya Shri Chander College of Medical Science and Hospital (ASCOMS & H) in Jammu, India. Data were collected by distributing the validated questionnaire consisting of sociodemographic data, social media use, and the Dysmorphic Concern Questionnaire (DCQ) scale from four schools (two government and two private) in Jammu. A total of 740 completely filled questionnaires were analyzed statistically. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare the mean scores of BDD, whereas the Chi-square and Kruskal-Wallis test for non-parametric data and p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results In the present study, the prevalence of BDD in adolescents in Jammu is found to be 29.45%. Greater frequency of social media usage, i.e., greater than four hours a day, social media practices like taking more selfies, excess use of beauty filters, and sharing of pictures on a regular basis, were related to increased mean DCQ scores and thus an increase in BDD. The study showed that with the increase in age, there was a subsequent increase in the prevalence of BDD. Female gender and adolescents having a lower economic status at home significantly have more chance to develop BDD. Conclusion Our study concludes that there is a potential association between the use of social media in rising BDD, especially among females and adolescents of lower economic status. Doctors, school teachers, parents, friends, government campaigns, policymakers, and social media influencers can come together to spread awareness and educate adolescents about self-love, confidence, and natural beauty.