Social media literacy and body image resilience: A curriculum intervention for college students

Objective: This study examined whether a brief, online social media literacy curriculum could improve digital competence and body image resilience among college students. Participants: Students enrolled in a general education wellness course at a Midwestern university were randomly assigned by course section to intervention or control groups. Methods: The intervention group completed a one-week online module with six short video lectures with embedded quizzes. Students completed pre- and post-intervention assessments, including the Social Media Competence Scale for College Students (SMCS-CS) and the Sociocultural Attitudes Toward Appearance Questionnaire-4 (SATAQ-4). Results: Students in the intervention group showed significant improvements in Technical Utility (p = 0.005), Content Interpretation (p = 0.019), and Content Generation (p = 0.004). No significant differences emerged for Anticipatory Reflection or any SATAQ-4 subscales. Conclusion: A brief curriculum-integrated media literacy intervention improved multiple domains of social media competence but did not affect body image resilience.