The impact of social media on young people’s self-esteem, body image and mental health

There have been significant changes in the western world with the advent of social media. Recent studies have indicated that social media can have a wide impact on young adult’s self-esteem, body image and mental health. Adolescents and young adults are the generation that use social media the most. This age group is particularly vulnerable when it comes to the harmful effects from social media. The impact of social media has been a popular research topic in recent year. However, the current study aims to explore the effect of social media on the self-esteem, body image and mental health of high school students in Iceland. A questionnaire from Rannsókn og Greining (R&G) from 2018 was used to collect the data. Icelandic high school students (N = 2072) from all over the country answered the survey, 49,3% males and 48,9% females. The results showed that excessive social media usage has a negative effect on young people’s self-esteem, body image and mental health. Keywords: social media, self-esteem, body image, mental health.

Author dc:creator

• Diljá Sturludóttir 1995-

Contributors dc:contributor

• Háskólinn í Reykjavík

• Sálfræði
• Samfélagsmiðlar
• Sjálfstraust
• Líkamsímynd
• Líðan
• Psychology
• Social media
• Self-esteem
• Body image
• Mental health

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1946/36445

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:skemman.is:1946/36445