Appearance-related cyberbullying: Stopping the harm before adolescent girls resort to dieting, changing their appearance and cosmetic surgery · ICGS Research Library

Title

Appearance-related cyberbullying: Stopping the harm before adolescent girls resort to dieting, changing their appearance and cosmetic surgery

Author

Prince, T., Mulgrew, K. E., Driver, C., Mills, L., Loza, J., & Hermens, D. F. (2024)

Year Published

2024

Description

Educators are well aware of the ongoing risks cyberbullying poses to students, not least via its impact on wellbeing and mental health. A new study led by researchers from the University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia, is the first of its kind to ever consider “appearance-related cyberbullying” (ARC) and how it affects adolescent girls’ mental health and wellbeing (Prince et al., 2024; Fowles, 2024). ARC is important to consider as a specific type of cyberbullying because of its unique impact on adolescent girls’ perceptions of their own bodies in addition to their mental health and wellbeing. Acts of ARC are predominantly targeted towards body shape and size, resulting in a significant impact on girls’ concerns surrounding “body shape, body shame, and eating disorder symptomology” (Prince et al., 2024, p. 1). It has also been proven to lead to a drastic rise in the number of girls who wish to undertake extreme diet changes, excessive exercise, surgical and cosmetic procedures, and changes to self-presentation in order to alter their appearance. Knowing how to address this type of cyberbullying will be an important part of the educator’s toolkit as they support girls to navigate the increasingly complex, and often confrontational, online world.

This is one of the first articles to be released from this project, and focuses on girls aged between 14 and 19 years. Surveys were used to assess experiences of ARC, and considered victimisation, body satisfaction, body esteem, body shame, body appreciation, and symptoms of eating disorders. These factors all have significant impacts on adolescent girls’ mental health and wellbeing (International Coalition of Girls’ Schools, 2024a, 2024b, 2024c). The impact of bullying and cyberbullying on girls’ mental health is already well-known. Likewise, the high numbers of adolescent girls who report body dissatisfaction has also been widely recognised (Prince et al., 2024). Girls are also more likely to be victims of cyberbullying than boys (Prince et al., 2024, p. 2). This project goes further than existing research by specifically considering ARC. It can lead to higher levels of emotional distress and depression, lower levels of self-esteem, an ongoing perpetuation of unrealistic and negative beauty standards, and a greater risk of body dissatisfaction, body shame, and body image concerns. Addressing these issues will help support adolescent girls to develop and maintain healthy attitudes towards their own body image and appearance.

The project found that ARC is typically focussed on very specific issues, most notably, physical appearance (including body shape and size). “Fatness” and “thinness” were two of the most commonly targeted physical traits. Other features that were used in ARC victimisation more frequently when compared to general cyberbullying included body attributes “such as breasts and bottom, facial appearance, clothing or style… scars, burns, skin conditions… and body tone and muscularity” (Prince et al., 2024, p. 7). Other factors that were targeted, but not as frequently, included “age, skin colour and disabilities” (Prince et al., 2024, p. 8). The project showed that 96.2 per cent of participants who had been victims of ARC wanted to engage in excessive dieting or exercise to change their body shape, size and physical appearance. Concerningly, 95.2 per cent also said they would like to change their self-presentation by altering their hair, makeup or clothing. Cometic and surgical procedures were also considered, with 81.3 per cent of girls in the study saying that they felt they needed these procedures to change how they looked after experiencing ARC.

Taliah Prince and the other researchers who have collaborated on this research indicate that a collaborative approach involving schools, parents and social media platforms is the most effective way to address this problem. Within this context, they have provided strategies educators can use to help address the risks ARC poses to adolescent girls. These strategies go beyond addressing the impact of ARC on girls’ mental health, and are designed to be preventative. This includes the specific development of age-appropriate social media policies in schools. They also suggest the introduction of “health promotion programs that encourage positive online behaviour” (Prince et al., 2024, pp. 1, 12). By addressing the impact of ARC before it begins to negatively affect girls’ wellbeing, the researchers suggest we can improve outcomes for adolescent girls who are being increasingly exposed to cyberbullying that targets their vulnerabilities and unrealistic beliefs about appearance and beauty standards.

References
Fowles, T. (2024, September 6). Research reveals cyberbullying is pushing teenage girls towards cosmetic procedures . University of the Sunshine Coast Australia. Retrieved 6 September 2024, from https://www.usc.edu.au/about/unisc-news/news-archive/2024/september/research-reveals-cyberbu