Introduction. Social media use (SMU) and body image concerns are highly prevalent in youth. Although several studies have shown that high SMU is crosssectionally associated with lower body esteem, experimental evidence is lacking. This pilot study experimentally evaluated the effects of reducing SMU on body esteem among transitional aged youth (TAY) with emotional distress. Methods. Thirty-eight undergraduate students presenting with elevated symptoms of anxiety/depression were randomly assigned to the intervention (n = 16), where SMU was restricted to 60 minutes/day, or to the control group (n = 22), where SMU was not restricted. SMU was monitored via screen-time trackers in participants’ smartphone submitted daily during baseline (1-week) and intervention (3-week) periods. Baseline and post-intervention measurements were taken to assess appearance and weight esteem as well as symptoms of anxiety and depression as secondary outcomes. Results. A significant group × time interaction emerged indicating that the intervention participants showed a significantly greater increase in appearance esteem over the 4 weeks compared to controls. There was no significant between-group difference on change in weight esteem. A significant group × time interaction emerge on anxiety indicating that intervention participants showed a significantly greater improvement in anxiety over the study period compared to controls. There was no significant between-group difference on change in depressive symptoms. Discussion. Reducing SMU may be a feasible and effective method of improving appearance esteem and reducing anxiety in a high-risk population of TAY with emotional distress; however, more high-quality randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm findings.

中文翻译：

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减少社交媒体使用对过渡年龄青年身体自尊的影响

介绍。社交媒体使用 (SMU) 和身体形象问题在年轻人中非常普遍。尽管几项研究表明，高 SMU 与较低的身体自尊在横截面上相关，但缺乏实验证据。这项试点研究通过实验评估了减少 SMU 对情绪困扰的过渡性老年青年 (TAY) 身体自尊的影响。方法。38 名出现焦虑/抑郁症状加重的本科生被随机分配到干预组（n = 16），其中 SMU 限制为每天 60 分钟，或分配到对照组（n = 22），其中 SMU 没有受限制的。在基线（1 周）和干预（3 周）期间每天提交的参与者智能手机中的屏幕时间跟踪器对 SMU 进行监控。进行基线和干预后测量以评估外观和体重自尊以及作为次要结果的焦虑和抑郁症状。结果。显着的组×时间相互作用表明干预参与者在 4 周内表现出与对照组相比显着增加的外表自尊。体重自尊的变化没有显着的组间差异。焦虑出现显着的组×时间交互，表明干预参与者在研究期间与对照组相比表现出显着更大的焦虑改善。抑郁症状的变化没有显着的组间差异。讨论。减少 SMU 可能是提高 TAY 高危情绪困扰人群的外表自尊和减少焦虑的可行且有效的方法；然而，需要更多高质量的随机对照试验来证实这些发现。