A influência das mídias sociais no desenvolvimento de transtornos alimentares em adolescentes, adultos jovens e adultos: uma revisão integrativa da literatura

Abstract

Objective: To understand the contribution of social media to the development of eating disorders in adolescents, young adults and adults. Method: This is an integrative literature review, which included scientific documents published in the last 5 years (2017 to 2022), in Portuguese and English. To define the research question, the PICO strategy was used. The searches were carried out in the following databases: Scientific Electronic Library Online, Public Medline, Google Scholar and Virtual Health Library. Results: The twelve selected articles relate social media to the development of eating disorders, the emergence of dysfunctional eating behaviors or the increase in body dissatisfaction, reaffirming what is found in the literature. Conclusion: Social media favors comparison and sets unattainable standards of what is socially accepted as beautiful or desirable. In this way, the contribution of social media to the development of eating disorders is due to its influence on the construction of body image and the propagation of beauty ideals, contributing to the increase of body dissatisfaction, the adoption of dysfunctional eating behaviors and, in turn, the development of eating disorders.