AUTHOR=Jarrar Yosra , Awobamise Ayodeji O. , Nweke Gabriel E. 

TITLE=The Mediating Effect of Social Anxiety on the Relationship Between Social Media Use and Body Dissatisfaction Among University Students

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Communication

VOLUME=Volume 7 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/communication/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2022.900257

DOI=10.3389/fcomm.2022.900257

ISSN=2297-900X

ABSTRACT= While several studies have looked at the relationship between social media and body dissatisfaction, there is an obvious dearth of empirical studies on the mediating role of social anxiety- a gap this study hoped to address.  Using a cross-sectional research design, this study examined the mediating role of social anxiety on the relationship between social media usage and body dissatisfaction. The sample consisted of 432 students from Kampala International University and Victoria University in Uganda. The findings show a significant positive relationship between social media usage and body dissatisfaction. The findings prove that heavy users of social media are significantly more likely to suffer from body dissatisfaction. In a similar vein, the findings show that there is a significant positive relationship between social media usage and social anxiety. This suggests that people that frequently make use of social media have a much higher chance of suffering from social anxiety, that is the inability or difficulty to engage in social interactions, than people that rarely or moderately make use of social media. Finally, findings show that social anxiety mediates the relationship between social media usage and body dissatisfaction. It indicates that people with high levels of social anxiety are more likely to suffer from body dissatisfaction as a direct result of heavy social media usage.