Examining of the relationship between social media use characteristics and social appearance anxiety and eating attitudes in young adults

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between social media use characteristics and social appearance anxiety and eating attitudes in young adults. The sample of the study consists of 385 young adult individuals between the ages of 18-25 in Istanbul. Each participant in the study completed the Sociodemographic Information Form, Social Appearance Anxiety Scale (SAAS) and Eating Attitude Test (EAT-40). According to the results obtained from the research, a significant difference was found between the eating attitude of the participants and their income, satisfaction with their physical appearance/weight, how many hours they spent on social media, and the importance of the number of likes they received in social media applications. A significant difference was found between the social appearance anxiety of the participants and the frequency of social media use, and how many hours they spent on social media. A low level of positive correlation was found between the participants social appearance anxiety and eating attitude and body mass index. It is aimed that the results obtained from the research will contribute to the literature.