Caught in the Feed: Linking Social Media Body Consciousness, Interoceptive Sensibility, and Disordered Eating

Abstract

The rise of social media has been linked to adverse mental health outcomes, including disordered eating symptoms. This study investigates the role of appearance-related social media consciousness (ASMC) in contributing to disordered eating, with a focus on the potential explanatory role of interoceptive sensibility. Women-identifying college students (T1 n = 762; T2 n = 353) completed measures of ASMC, interoceptive sensibility, and eating pathology one month apart. ASMC significantly predicted increases in body dissatisfaction but did not predict changes in binge eating, cognitive restraint, or restricting. Using a half-longitudinal mediation model, ASMC also predicted decreases in interoceptive sensibility, specifically the MAIA-2 Not-Distracting subscale. Lower Not-Distracting, in turn, predicted greater restrictive eating, and there was a significant indirect effect from ASMC to restricting through reduced Not-Distracting. These findings suggest that ASMC may heighten appearance concerns and diminish attention to bodily cues, contributing specifically to restrictive eating among college aged women.