Beyond the screen: The relationships between online activities and eating disorder risk

This study explores the associations between online activities and eating disorder (ED) risk. Seven types of online activities were investigated: the usage of calorie counting and fitness apps, dating apps, social networking sites (SNS), engagement in online games, exposure to pro-ED content, cyberbullying victimization, and mukbang. A sample of 404 participants (257 females, 147 males) aged 18-48 were recruited via a Chinese online survey platform. Latent profile analysis (LPA) identified patterns of online activity, and multiple linear regression assessed the relationship between these activities and ED risk. The results showed that three distinct online activity profiles emerged: Low Risk Group, Moderate Risk Group, and High Risk Group, comprising 63.12 %, 29.70 %, and 7.18 % of the sample, respectively. The Low Risk Group exhibited the lowest ED risk and significantly lower engagement in all ED-related online activities except for social media use, compared to the other groups. The Moderate Risk Group showed a moderate level of ED risk; it did not differ significantly from the High Risk Group in most online activities, but it had higher social media use and lower rates of cyberbullying victimization. Regression analysis indicated that social media use, pro-ED content exposure, and cyberbullying victimization were significantly associated with ED risk, accounting for 43.9 % of the variance. These findings indicate that different patterns of online activity are associated with varying ED risks, and the combination of social media use and cyberbullying victimization, rather than each factor alone, appears to be correlated with higher ED risk.