Predicting Body Image Concerns, Social Isolation, and Mood by the Amount of Social Media Addiction

Objective: The use of the Internet is widely increasing among the new generation, shaping an important aspect of people's lives. The use of the social media can influence body image concerns, social isolation, and social mood. The purpose of the present study is to assess body image concerns, social isolation, and mood based on the amount of social media use. Method: This study has been conducted using a descriptive method in the form of correlation. The study population was all people aged between 20 and 40 in Shiraz, among which 311 people (191 women and 119 men) has been selected by the convenience sampling method. The tools used in this study were body image concerns Inventory (BICI, 2005), Social Isolation Assessment Standard Questionnaire (SIASI, 2013), Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS, 1988), and social media addiction scale (SMAS_AF, 2017). Correlation coefficients (using the SPSS software) and structural equation modeling analysis (using AMOS statistical software) were employed to investigate the variables of social isolation prediction model. Results: The results of the study showed that mood (β=0.15, p=0.007) and use of social media (β=0.19, p=0.0001)  can predict social isolation with the mediating role of body image concerns(β=0.18, p=0.001).  The results showed that the mood and use of social media can predict social isolation both directly and with the mediation of body image concern. Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, mood and use of social media can predict social isolation with the mediating role of body image concerns. Negative mood can make people sensitive to their body image. People have a distorted perception of their body image and this concern leads to social isolation.