Check Your Likes but Move Your Body! How the Use of Social Media Is Influencing Pre-Teens Body and the Role of Active Lifestyles

Abstract

The use of social media has been increasing among pre-teens, affecting body satisfaction and leading to the development of a dualism between real and virtual identities. It is also associated with low physical activity levels. This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the influence of dualism and physical activity levels on body satisfaction in male and female pre-teens. A sample of 2378 Italian pre-teens (Mage = 12.02 years, SD = 0.82) was recruited. Two anonymous and self-administered questionnaires were used to investigate social media use, the representation of the bodies through the social media, body image, and physical activity levels. Descriptive statistics were computed for all variables; Pearson’s Chi square and Cramer’s V were calculated to assess gender differences. Linear mixed models were used to explore the association between body satisfaction (dependent variable) and physical activity levels and the dualism (independent variables). It emerged that physical activity positively influences body satisfaction for both males and females; dualism negatively influences body satisfaction only for females. Therefore, it can be assumed that the engagement of pre-teens in offline activities counteracts the undesirable consequences of the beauty ideal models proposed by image-centred social media platforms.