Seekis Veya, Mulgrew Kate E, Prichard Ivanka, Manning Hannah, Wood Isabella, Stevenson Cloudia
School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University, Australia.
School of Health, University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia.
Body Image. 2025 Mar;52:101849. doi: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2024.101849. Epub 2025 Jan 10.
This study compared the efficacy of three 7-day detox strategies on young women's body image and wellbeing. The three strategies were: (a) Insta/TikTok break, (b) daily time-cap (30 minutes max), and (c) Insta/TikTok cleanse (removing appearance-focused content from feeds). A sample of 175 women aged 17-35 (M = 22.71) was randomized into one of the three detox conditions or social media use as usual. Participants completed assessments of self-objectification, appearance satisfaction, body appreciation, media pressure, and wellbeing at baseline, day 3 (check-in) and day 7 (posttest). Significant interactions showed that appearance satisfaction improved for all three detox groups from baseline to posttest, but no changes occurred for the control group. Appearance satisfaction also increased from day 3 to posttest in the Insta/TikTok cleanse group. Wellbeing improved from baseline to posttest for the daily time-cap group. Increases in wellbeing also occurred from day 3 to day 7 for the Insta/TikTok break and daily time-cap groups. No further interactions were found. Findings shed light on the varying effects of three 7-day social media detox strategies for promoting appearance satisfaction and overall wellbeing. Cleansing Instagram and TikTok feeds of appearance-focused content emerged as a particularly promising approach for improving appearance satisfaction.
