Si po ndiheni?: Social media, body image, and mental health among Albanian young women

In high-income Western contexts, social media, particularly highly-visual and photo-based social media, has been associated with poorer body image and psychological functioning. However, little is known about the characteristics of body image of young women from other geographic regions nor how it relates to social media use. Aims of this study were, therefore, to explore body image among a sample of young women from Albania using a variety of indices and to examine the relationships between body image, social media use, and indices of appearance-related social media use. A sample of 361 women ( M age = 20.80; SD age = 2.30) completed an online survey assessing positive and negative body image, indices of social media use, and psychological functioning. Findings revealed that participants had relatively high levels of positive body image and relatively low levels of negative body image. In addition, broad frequency of social media use (i.e., amount of time spent using social media) was not consistently or strongly associated with body image and psychological functioning; however, preoccupation with online self-presentation as well as appearance activities and appearance comparison on social media revealed more consistent and larger associations with body image and psychological functioning. Together, these findings provide additional evidence that investment in and preoccupation with the appearance-related elements of social media is more relevant for body image compared to broader use. Furthermore, there is a need for additional work among underrepresented groups in body image research to refine theoretical models that are culturally appropriate and appropriate for their specific characteristics.