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Updated: Jan 15, 2026
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Validation of a Psychosocial Intervention on Body Image in Older People: An Experimental Design
Published on: May 31, 2021
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Body image perception and dieting among "screenagers" in Poland
Anna Dzielska1, Joanna Mazur2, Katarzyna Lewtak3
1Institute of Mother and Child, Warsaw, Poland (Department of Child and Adolescent Health).
Summary
Intensive screen use among adolescents is linked to higher risks of body dissatisfaction and dieting behaviors. This highlights the need for media literacy and healthy digital habits, especially for girls and urban youth.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Adolescent Psychology
- Media Studies
Background:
- Screen time is a growing concern among adolescents, with potential impacts on mental health and behaviors.
- Understanding diverse screen-use patterns is crucial for targeted health interventions.
- Previous research has explored screen time, but specific profiles and their links to body image and weight behaviors require further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify distinct screen-use profiles among Polish adolescents.
- To determine the prevalence of these profiles.
- To examine the relationship between screen-use profiles, body image perception, and weight reduction behaviors.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of data from 5322 adolescents (aged 13, 15, 17) from the 2021/2022 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study.
- Utilized k-means clustering to identify screen-use profiles based on gaming, social media, internet browsing, and audiovisual content consumption.
- Assessed body image perception and dieting behaviors via the HBSC questionnaire.
Main Results:
- Five screen-use profiles were identified: moderate users (40.1%), game-oriented (21.1%), social-media-oriented (20.3%), intensive game/social media (11.1%), and intensive users (7.4%).
- Girls were more prevalent in social media clusters; boys in gaming clusters.
- Adolescents in intensive use profiles showed over double the likelihood of perceiving themselves as overweight and dieting, even after BMI adjustment.
- Higher BMI Z-score predicted body dissatisfaction (OR=2.36) and dieting (OR=2.67).
Conclusions:
- Significant associations exist between intensive screen use patterns and negative body image perceptions and dieting behaviors in adolescents.
- These findings underscore the psychosocial impact of screen media and the necessity of promoting media literacy.
- Targeted interventions for healthy digital habits are recommended, particularly for older adolescents, girls, and urban youth.
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