Dataset Information

Young People's Experiences of Viewing the Fitspiration Social Media Trend: Qualitative Study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Social media use has become ubiquitous in the lives of many people, especially young adults. A popular recent trend emerging on social media is that of posting and following 'Fitspirational' content - material that purports to motivate and showcase healthy lifestyle habits, particularly relating to exercise and diet. There is very limited existing literature on how engaging with this type of content influences people's psychological and physical heath. Initial studies have focused on concerns over potential negative effects on psychological wellbeing including body image, self-esteem and eating disorders.

Objective

We aimed to address a gap in the literature for exploratory research on this topic from the perspective of users. We used a qualitative approach to explore how people experience viewing Fitspiration on social media including why and how they engage with this material and how they perceive that it affects their thoughts, emotions, behaviour and health.

Methods

We recruited 20 young adults (14 females, 6 males, aged 18-25) who self-declared themselves to be Fitspiration followers to participate in either focus groups or individual interviews. We asked detailed, open-ended questions about their motivations for following Fitspiration, experiences of viewing this content and its perceived impact. We used inductive thematic analysis to derive themes that represented common and salient features of the data set.

Results

Four main themes were developed: 1) A tool with the potential to support healthy living, 2) Unrealistic, untrustworthy content, 3) Negative effects on emotional wellbeing, and 4) Vulnerability and protective factors. Following Fitspirational posts on social media can provide young people with knowledge and motivation that may support healthy lifestyle behaviours. However, a range of harms also appeared to arise from Fitspiration viewing ranging from minor annoyances and frustrations to more meaningful negative effects on psychological & physical health. These negative effects seemed to persist despite individuals acknowledging that the material can be unrealistic, and believing that they are personally equipped to minimise harms to themselves.

Conclusions

This study suggests that Fitspiration on social media can be attractive and compelling for young people but appears to bring about negative as well as positive effects. Future research should aim to confirm the scale and intensity of positive and negative effects and investigate ways of harnessing desirable outcomes and minimising undesirable outcomes.

SUBMITTER: Easton S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6028764 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Young People's Experiences of Viewing the Fitspiration Social Media Trend: Qualitative Study.

Easton Stephanie S Morton Katherine K Tappy Zara Z Francis Daniella D Dennison Laura L

Journal of medical Internet research 20180618 6

<h4>Background</h4>Social media use has become ubiquitous in the lives of many people, especially young adults. A popular recent trend emerging on social media is that of posting and following 'Fitspirational' content - material that purports to motivate and showcase healthy lifestyle habits, particularly relating to exercise and diet. There is very limited existing literature on how engaging with this type of content influences people's psychological and physical heath. Initial studies have foc ...[more]

PMID: 29914859

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundEffective prevention at a young enough age is critical to halt the obesity epidemic. Mobile health (mHealth) apps would potentially reach large numbers at low-cost. While there is already a profusion of lifestyle apps, they are mostly non-evidence-based and evidently ineffective against rising obesity prevalence.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to explore preferences and usage of lifestyle apps among young people in 6 countries.MethodsA mixed methods study was conducted among young people aged 13 to 24 years residing in the United Kingdom, Belgium, Finland, Greece, Singapore, and New Zealand. Participants were recruited from Web advertisements on Facebook, asking for volunteers interested in mobile apps in general, not specific to lifestyle or health, to complete a short survey comprising 18 questions on demographics, weight gain, and mobile app preferences and then to join English-language online focus groups, which were held during 2017, in password-protected Web rooms, moderated by an experienced researcher. Descriptive statistics were carried out for the survey, and thematic analysis was applied to transcripts.ResultsA total of 2285 young people (610 adolescents aged 13-17 years and 1675 young adults aged 18-24 years) responded and completed the survey, with 72.0% (1645) reported being concerned about weight gain for themselves or friends. Later, 807 young people (376 adolescents and 431 young adults) were selected based on age and country to participate in 12 online focus groups, with 719 young people completing. Analysis revealed 4 main themes: (1) feelings toward personal weight; (2) perception of lifestyle apps and desired content for weight gain prevention; (3) social media apps, lifestyle apps, and motivation for downloading and retaining; and (4) data safety and data usage and confidentiality. Young people are interested in evidence-based advice in programs incorporating their preferences.ConclusionsYoung people are commonly, and consistently across 6 countries, concerned about weight gain and obesity and would welcome evidence-based mHealth programs, provided the views of young people themselves are incorporated in the program content.

Project description:BACKGROUND:Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for young people is increasingly being provided using technology-assisted formats. Although there is increasing evidence regarding the efficacy of such approaches, as illustrated by quantitative systematic reviews, the literature has also highlighted challenges with implementation factors, including high attrition rates and variable user engagement. Qualitative review methods can help to address the factors that impact young peoples' experience of technology-assisted cognitive behavioral therapy (tech-assisted CBT) and, thus, enable us to better understand such implementation factors. To date, no such qualitative synthesis exists. OBJECTIVE:The primary aim of this review was to systematically identify and synthesize the qualitative literature concerning the experiences of young people who have used tech-assisted CBT. METHODS:This systematic review applied Thomas and Harden's 2008 qualitative thematic synthesis approach. This involved line-by-line coding of the results sections of included studies and an inductive analysis on identified themes, followed by the generation of analytical themes through a process of iteration and interpretation of the descriptive themes. PsycINFO, ACM Digital Library, PubMed, EMBASE, and JMIR Publications databases were searched. The inclusion criteria were (1) studies involving school-aged young people over preschool age (6 years) but under the age of 18 years, (2) use of any form of tech-assisted CBT for any time period, (3) a stated focus of qualitative data to document the experiences of participants, and (4) studies published in English. The exclusion criteria were (1) interventions only provided face-to-face with no technological component, (2) only focused on the performance of the technology rather than participant experience, and (3) numerical data that sought to represent qualitative data. RESULTS:A total of 14 studies were included in this review. Overall, these studies represented interventions for low mood and anxiety (n=10), trauma or self-harm (n=2), and physical difficulties (n=2). Overall, 5 analytical themes emerged on young people's experiences with tech-assisted CBT: (1) helpfulness, (2) therapeutic process, (3) transferability, (4) gameplay experience, and (5) limitations. In addition, these analytical themes contained the following subthemes: positive experiences, tech-assisted CBT versus face-to-face CBT, understanding of a CBT model, process of change, skills development, application to everyday life settings, parental involvement, character relatedness, playability, negative experiences, and broad content. CONCLUSIONS:Overall, young people's experiences with tech-assisted CBT were mostly positive. The use of gaming environments, relatable characters, concrete metaphors, and age-appropriate narratives contributed to these positive experiences. Evidence suggests that technology can help to mediate face-to-face relationships with therapists and help young people to understand the CBT model. Clear barriers also emerged, including over-reliance on reading and writing skills and dissatisfaction with overly generalized content and comparison with commercial technologies. TRIAL REGISTRATION:International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) CRD42018103388; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42018103388.

Project description:Children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) face significant challenges to deal with everyday activities due to underlying motor proficiency difficulties. These challenges affect children and young people's participation; that is, involvement in daily life situations. In the past, limited consideration was given to personal experience of events, relationships and everyday life in children and young people with DCD; as a result, understanding what it is like to live with DCD is not well conceptualised in the literature. There is a pressing need to synthesise the findings of discrete qualitative studies to advance the conceptual understanding of living with DCD, to inform health service delivery and the development and implementation of complex interventions. This study aims to systematically review and synthesise qualitative literature regarding children and young people's experiences and views of everyday life and living with DCD. The method of qualitative evidence synthesis that will be followed in this review is a meta-ethnography. The eMERGe and PRISMA reporting guidelines will be used in the development, design and reporting of this review. Nine databases will be searched; Academic Search Complete, AMED, CINAHL, MEDLINE, PsychArticles, PsychInfo, EMBASE, SPORTDiscus, and Web of Science. Two independent reviewers will use the Joanna Briggs Institute Checklist to appraise all included papers. The findings of this meta-ethnography will endeavour to inform future research, policy and practice. In particular, the results will help to inform the design of future complex interventions to meet the needs of children and young people with DCD. Dissemination will involve the publication of the results in a peer-reviewed journal. Increasingly researchers and policymakers are calling for services to be informed by the perspective and voice of children with DCD; therefore, a policy brief will be published so that the findings are widely available. Registration: PROSPERO registration number CRD42019129178; registered on 09 July 2019.

Dataset Information

Young People's Experiences of Viewing the Fitspiration Social Media Trend: Qualitative Study.

Background

Objective

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Young People's Experiences of Viewing the Fitspiration Social Media Trend: Qualitative Study.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets