Trial reportBMC pregnancy and childbirth2022
#Fitmom: an experimental investigation of the effect of social media on body dissatisfaction and eating and physical activity intentions, attitudes, and behaviours among postpartum mothers.
Trial report in BMC pregnancy and childbirth, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05181280 (Moms on Media Study), which is not on this map. Cited by 11 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Moms on Media Study: Testing the Influence of Social Media on the Health Behaviours of Mothers During the Postpartum Period
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- [Effectiveness of interventions to help mitigate the influence of social networks on anorexia and bulimia nervosa: a systematic review].Anales del sistema sanitario de Navarra · 2024Pooled it
- Pregorexia: a systematic review and meta-analysis on the constructs of body image dissatisfaction and eating disturbances by gestational age in the peripartum.Eating and weight disorders : EWD · 2023Pooled it
- Social Media Versus Customized Mobile Apps for Online Perinatal Mental Health Support: The Potential for a Hybrid Model.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- Body image and social media as predictors of pregnancy health behaviors.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Exploring the influence of social media 'Mumfluencers' on postpartum body image.Journal of health psychology · 2025Article
- The Role of Social Media Usage in the Impact of Body Image on Disordered Eating Attitudes During the Third Trimester of Pregnancy.European eating disorders review : the journal of the Eating Disorders Association · 2025Article
- Problematic Social Media Use and Its Relationship with Breastfeeding Behaviors and Anxiety in Social Media-Native Mothers: A Mixed-Methods Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Influence of social networks on self-image and lifestyle in postpartum women: a systematic scoping review.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Article
- Article
- Parenting Information on Social Media: Systematic Literature Review.JMIR pediatrics and parenting · 2024Review
- The Association of Social Media Use and Eating Behaviour of Belgian Adolescent Girls Diagnosed with Anorexia Nervosa-A Qualitative Approach.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundResearch has shown that body dissatisfaction is higher during the postpartum period compared to other periods of life, and strongly associated with disordered eating behaviours, which can lead to adverse health outcomes. While results from cross-sectional studies suggest that social media may play an important role in body dissatisfaction among postpartum mothers, causal inference is limited due to the observational nature of the existing research. The objective of this study is to experimentally test the effect of body-focused social media on the body dissatisfaction and eating and physical activity intentions, attitudes, and behaviours of postpartum mothers.
methodsPostpartum mothers of infants 0-6 months (n = 132) were randomly assigned to view either body-focused social media posts (n = 65), or a control set of infant feeding tips (n = 67). ANCOVA was used to examine differences between the intervention and control group on levels of body dissatisfaction, eating and physical activity intentions, attitudes, and behaviours. There were two follow-up time points, immediately post intervention and 1-month post intervention to measure potential sustained effects of intervention.
resultsExposure to body-focused social media posts resulted in higher levels of body dissatisfaction, mean difference 1.54 (p = 0.002); poorer body image, mean difference 0.41 (p = 0.007); eating attitudes, mean difference 2.26 (p = 0.025); and higher levels of restrained eating behaviours, mean difference 0.39 (p < 0.001) among the intervention group post intervention. Mothers in the intervention group also reported higher levels of inspiration to be active, mean difference 0.48 (p = 0.021) post intervention. A sustained effect was found for restrained eating, mean difference 2.03 (p < 0.001) and poorer eating attitude, mean difference 0.29 (p = 0.001) at 1-month follow-up. No sustained effects were found for any other outcomes at 1-month follow-up.
conclusionSocial media exposure to body-focused social media posts negatively affect postpartum mothers' body dissatisfaction and health behaviours. Further experimental research that includes an interactive social media component is needed among this population.
trial registrationNCT05181280, Study ID Number: 054798. Registered 06/01/2022. Retrospectively registered, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05181280 .
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.