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You are here: Home / Fall 2021 / Fall 2021: Course/Section / Fall 2021: 362-02 / PSYC 362-02_Fall21_Group2

The Association Between Editing Pictures, Depressed Mood, and Disordered Eating

Samantha Bertsch, Antonio Laborte, & Antonia Serafin

a Research Methods Project supervised by Dr. Laura Wilson
(Fall 2021)

Bertsch-poster

check out these “elevator” talks from each group member
  • Samantha Bertsch
  • Antonio Laborte
  • Antonia Serafin
    Jennifer Mailloux
    1 Dec 2021
    7:12pm

    Hi Nina, Antonio, and Antonia! Your research project very much brings eating disordered behavior research into the modern era with the inclusion of activity on social media. I’m wondering what characteristics of social media use were investigated previously… Did, for example, Christiansen et al. measure amount of time on social media, in general, as opposed to time spent editing? Why did you think time spent editing on social media, in particular, would be a useful measure? Do you think kinds of edits people might make (filtering versus cropping or something) would matter?

    Reply
    Zoey Lutterbie
    2 Dec 2021
    10:39pm

    Good job! This was an interesting topic and I enjoyed learning about your research with it. Like the commenter before myself, I’m also curious how different types of editing processes may make a difference in the results. Maybe more specificity would yield results with more correlation/significance.

    Reply
    Dr. Kolar
    3 Dec 2021
    8:11am

    Hi Researchers! Interesting topic, particularly given how much social media is used today. I am curious about how much participants reported editing photos. Was it common or relatively rare? I know you only had a small number of men in your study, but did there seem to be differences between men and women in editing? Also, Table 1 reports a correlation of .74 between Depression and Eating behavior. Is that correct? If so that should be significant.

    Reply
    Mary McConnell
    3 Dec 2021
    4:41pm

    Nice presentation! This was very interesting to see after a semester of Abnormal Psychology, where we did speak on eating disorders and what may affect them. Social media was one factor we spoke of, believing it would have an effect on eating disorders. I wonder how results might differ if the study were to be done with high school aged participants?

    Reply
    Kree Pace
    4 Dec 2021
    5:50am

    Thank you for sharing. This was an interesting study. I had seen other ones centered around exposure to social media, but this was the first one I saw that talked about what people contribute to it (uploading their own pictures). It’s definitely safe to say that edited pictures can impact how people feel about themselves. It would be interesting to see what other factors could be included in such a study. I think the frequency of posting, what platform images are posted to, and the types of posts might also connect to depression and disordered eating.

    Reply
    Kyle Cassidy
    4 Dec 2021
    5:07pm

    Great job on your poster! I think your topic is very interesting, as well as extremely relevant today. I was really surprised that there was not a correlation found between social media and your other variables. Overall, great job on your study!

    Reply
    Kassie Powell
    4 Dec 2021
    5:42pm

    The topic you chose is very relevant in today’s society where we often overconsume social media. This set of surveys may be beneficial for a larger and more diverse audience. A lot of times researchers focus most of their attention on younger demographics being affected by social media but it’s possible there is a wider age group also being affected. Overall, you all did a wonderful job and it was very interesting!

    Reply
    Destiny Corazzini
    5 Dec 2021
    12:04am

    Nice job on the poster! I really like that you guys chose this topic, as it is very important one amongst college aged students and beyond. I enjoyed that you guys incorporated the table for statistics and visual aid as well. Great job again!

    Reply
    Angel Coto
    5 Dec 2021
    12:56am

    Great job on the poster! It’s a very relevant and interesting topic to talk about. I was shocked to see there isn’t any correlation found. I’ve seen other studies revolving around this topic and the results always surprise me. One would think social media would have that big influence. Overall, great table and structure for your poster. Again, great job!

    Reply
    Maddy Gedney
    5 Dec 2021
    11:27am

    Great job on your poster! This was a very interesting and prevalent topic in today’s society. I was surprised that there was not enough evidence to suggest that editing photos didn’t have an effect on depression and disordered eating. You would think that all the pressure to post “perfect” pictures on social media would have some effect. Thank you for sharing!

    Reply
    Aria Janello
    5 Dec 2021
    12:06pm

    Amazing job! Including editing photos and personal use of social media goes one step further than just use of social media, which was so interesting! I was intrigued by your results being not correlated. Overall, this topic is so relevant and I really enjoyed your poster and videos! Fantastic work.

    Reply
    Faith StClair
    5 Dec 2021
    1:40pm

    Your research is very interesting! I found it interesting that editing pictures did not increase depression or eating disorders. It makes sense that disordered eating effects depression as your gut plays a huge role in how someone feels. Great job on your poster!

    Reply
    Eyerusalm Getachew
    5 Dec 2021
    3:22pm

    This was interesting research I really enjoyed reading and looking at the results. As I was looking I wonder if using filters is considered as editing pictures or if that would fall in a different category? Do you think people use filters to make themselves feel better or because it is something that is often used by social media influencers? Great Job on your research!

    Reply
    Jalen White
    5 Dec 2021
    6:20pm

    This was a very interesting and popular topic. A lot of college struggle with eating behaviors and trying to look like everyone else that they see on social media. It is great that you all are bringing attention to a sensitive topic that is not addressed enough!

    Reply
    Emily Landry
    5 Dec 2021
    7:16pm

    Sam, Antonio, and Antonia,

    This is a fascinating and important topic of discussion. I think this is rather important as many people are on social media and tend to compare themselves to models. I think it is rather significant as more and more people are on social media, which most of the photos are edited in order to oblige by society’s beauty standards. I think it would be interesting to extend the survey into more wider age range of people such as adolescents, children, and even some older individuals.

    Reply
    Kate Ramirez
    5 Dec 2021
    7:18pm

    The poster was fantastic! I really enjoyed this topic since it’s something a lot of us may relate to. I found it interesting how social media did not increase eating disorders. I thought social media would, but no. This is an important topic to shed light on so thank you!!

    Reply
    Sara Roberts
    5 Dec 2021
    7:35pm

    I find it super fascinating that the research did not suggest an association between editing photos and an increase in depression or eating disorders. I wonder what the results would have been had the study had more power. I do find it interesting that despite not finding an association between editing photos and depression or eating disorders, there was an association between poor eating habits and depression symptoms. Great job!

    Reply
    Eliana Black
    5 Dec 2021
    8:49pm

    Hello!
    This was a great topic as well as presentation, and all together it was obviously very well planned out. There’s an incredibly relevant correlation between body image/social standards of beauty and the mental health in people, especially this day in age with social media. It’s become very normalized to see edited photos of models and such in magazines and influencers on instagram, yet there’s many people who feel the need to do the same.

    Reply
    Alex Wohlford
    5 Dec 2021
    9:11pm

    I really enjoyed your research, particularly because I found it to be very relatable to my own experiences. The issue of how editing pictures impacts eating behaviors is something I’m really interested in. I was really surprised to see that you didn’t find an association between editing photos and depression/disordered eating. Overall, you guys did a great job on your poster!!

    Reply
    Amy Rouse
    8 Dec 2021
    10:38am

    This is a very interesting project and I enjoyed reading it! I am curious as to how editing and cropping photos play a role in depression and/or disordered eating when those photos are cropped/edited by someone else (professional photos).

    Reply
    Renee Leger
    10 Dec 2021
    2:19am

    What an interesting study! I do echo Dr. Kolar’s question about the correlation between depression and eating behavior being .74 but not being found significant. I also wonder what would have happened if some of the participants had been found using social media. I feel as if this study specifically would have been well suited for that. This is definitely a topic that should be given more attention as it is so current and pressing. Well done!

    Reply
    Eleanor Hatton
    10 Dec 2021
    1:19pm

    I really quite enjoyed this presentation. I found the topic very relevant to society today. Social media, eating disorders, and depression are all seen as taboo and are not talked about nearly enough. However, I feel as though the findings of the current study are not representative of the actual correlation between social media usage, disordered eating, and depression. Perhaps it was due to the sample size, or the operationalization of your variables, though those are things that can be altered in future iterations of this study. Overall, I feel as though the study was well-done and topical.

    Reply
    Ellie Streeter
    10 Dec 2021
    8:24pm

    I really enjoyed reading about your study. I find it so interesting that there is a possible relationship between social media and depressed mood and disordered eating. Do you think if you had more statistical power your results would have been different?

    Reply
    Angelle Laboard
    10 Dec 2021
    8:52pm

    I think this is one of the most interesting correlational studies I have seen! I believe this study should have a more in-depth research study. The focus of the study was to see the correlation between social media editing, depression, and eating disorders. By using a three-set of individual nonrelative surveys on the same subjects. The results of the surveys were there was no high correlation between any of the variables. Yet, I feel like this may be because of the small subject group, in size and in diversity. I also feel like the results can be even further skewed if it is also a small region where the subjects are from. I feel like in this day and age social media is having a more dire effect on us than we like to admit. Like as someone who is highly addicted to social media and also struggles with body image. I took a break for a couple of days from all social media and in that time frame alone I felt better about how I looked. I feel like social media is a breeding ground for insecurity especially in the developing minds of our youth. It has an equal amount of negatives and positives. Do you think your results would change if the spectrum of the subjects were broadened?

    Reply

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