Short-video usage and female college students’ restricted diets: a chain mediation model

Abstract

With the popularity of short-video platforms, people’s self-concept and body views are everyday concerns, including their dieting. How short-video platforms impact people’s dieting especially for female college students, remain unclear. This study examines the mediating paths between short-video usage and restricted diets in terms of body comparison and body dissatisfaction. Data on short-video addiction, body comparison, body dissatisfaction, and restricted diet were collected from 532 female college students aged between 17 and 23 (mean = 19.68 years, SD = 1.28 years). Following correlation and multiple regression analysis, short-video usage contributed to the students’ restricted diets and body dissatisfaction for varying degrees of body comparison. In addition, body comparison and body dissatisfaction positively and significantly mediated the relationship between short-video usage and the adoption of restricted diets. From these findings, we conclude that self-concept education to avoid body comparison and enhance body satisfaction carries benefits of healthy dietary behaviours and lowers risks for unhealthy dietary behaviours.