Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41508426›Full record

ArticleThe International journal of eating disorders2026

Fitspiration, Thinspiration, Body Positivity, and Body Neutrality Contents on Image-Based Social Media: Associations With Body Image, Mood, Self-Esteem, and Disordered Eating Behavior in Women With and Without Self-Reported Eating Disorders-An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study.

Kristine Schönhals, Christopher Lalk, Silja Vocks

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Article in The International journal of eating disorders, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Kristine SchönhalsInstitute of Psychology, Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-7758-1726
Christopher LalkInstitute of Psychology, Department of Psychotherapy Research and Clinical Psychology, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-1793-3507
Silja VocksInstitute of Psychology, Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, Germany.ORCID 0000-0001-8498-9466

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveThis study examined everyday exposure to fitspiration, thinspiration, body positivity, and body neutrality content on image-based social media and its associations with body image, mood, self-esteem, and disordered eating behavior using ecological momentary assessment (EMA) in women with and without eating disorders.

methodWomen with self-reported anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa (n = 62) and women without eating disorders (n = 81) reported their social media use, mood, body image, self-esteem, appearance comparisons, and disordered eating behavior via a smartphone app for 7 days.

resultsViewing fitspiration and thinspiration content was significantly associated with lower happiness, higher body dissatisfaction, and lower body appreciation, but not with daily-reported restrained eating. Only thinspiration content was significantly associated with higher sadness and lower self-esteem. Upward appearance comparisons mediated the associations of exposure to fitspiration and thinspiration content with all outcomes. Except for higher body appreciation after viewing body neutrality content, there were no main effects of body positivity and body neutrality. Compared to women without eating disorders, those with self-reported anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa showed a greater reduction in self-esteem after viewing thinspiration. DISCUSSION: The results highlight the possible detrimental effects of exposure to fitspiration and thinspiration content on mood, body image, and self-esteem in women with and without self-reported anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa alike, while only body neutrality content was related to higher body appreciation. Women with and without eating disorders should be educated about the possible negative influences of content purporting to improve one's appearance.

Indexed as

AffectAnorexia NervosaBody DissatisfactionBulimia NervosaFeeding BehaviorSocial MediaAdolescentAdultBody SatisfactionDigital MediaEcological Momentary AssessmentFemaleHumansMedia ExposureSelf ReportYoung Adultappearance comparisonsbody imagebody neutralitybody positivityeating disordersecological momentary assessmentfitspirationself‐esteemsocial mediathinspiration

Identifiers

PMID41508426
PMCPMC13058400

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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.