Look at me and #myself. Boys’ and girls’ bodies on social networking sites

In recent years, scientific literature has increasingly focused on social networking sites (SNSs) use and misuse and male and female adolescents’ experiences in online environments, providing several lines of evidence concerning the increasing centrality of appearance-related activities (such as selfie-sharing, viewing, commenting, and “liking” peers’ photos) on SNSs. On the one hand, this increasing visual attention directed toward body appearance might allow adolescents to satisfy their need for self-presentation and belonging. Nevertheless, on the other hand, it might enhance adolescents’ potentially problematic control over own body image in pictures and photo manipulation. Selfie behavior has been described as a complex phenomenon that comprises not only selfie-sharing on SNSs but also following specific control and manipulation strategies to take and edit personal pictures. However, scientific interest appeared focused on selfie-posting, leaving aside research on photo-taking, photo manipulation, their predictors and outcomes. Specifically, a few researchers evaluated the extent to which individuals edit or manipulate own pictures before sharing on SNSs to improve their photo appearance. Some studies involving adolescent samples administered the Photo Manipulation scale developed by McLean et al. (2015). Nevertheless, there are no Italian validation or adaptation of these measures. Concerning the possible predictors of selfie-related behaviors prior to sharing on SNSs, within the Italian context has been explored what boys and girls expected from selfies and the relationship between selfie-expectancies and selfie frequency. However, no researchers investigated the expectations underlying preceding selfie-sharing behaviors, such as control over body image before selfie-taking and selfie-editing. Additionally, appearance monitoring and control over body image in pictures have been considered closely linked to SNSs use and potentially related to self-objectification experiences. Nevertheless, within the objectified body consciousness research field, body shame and appearance control beliefs components are still understudied, and no previous studies have explored their effect on body image control in photos before sharing on SNSs, neither the predictive role of these objectified body consciousness components on problematic social networking. In summary, on the one hand, social networking and the great attention towards own online photographic self-presentation might promote body image-related concerns and potentially problematic monitoring of own appearance in photos, allowing adolescents to strategically manage their self-presentation, increasingly through pictures, selfies, videos, and other visual content. On the other hand, greater engagement in body image control might trigger greater problematic social networking, especially among adolescents confirming a possible bidirectional nature of (problematic) social networking-body image issues relation. Similarly, social networking has been considered and investigated as a pivotal predictor of self-objectification experiences, but considering a possible bidirectional nature of social networking-self-objectification relation, individuals who already self-objectify their body to present, manage, and enhance their online appearance, supporting self-objectification processes, might be potentially engaged in problematic SNSs use. Thus, three studies were designed. Study 1 was conducted to revise and validate the Photo Manipulation scale (McLean et al., 2015), aiming at providing a useful instrument to evaluate photo manipulation strategies among Italian adolescents. A total of 1353 participants were recruited (47.4% males; mean age=16.3 years, SD=2.29). Exploratory and confirmatory analyses have been conducted to explore the psychometric properties of the scale. The revised Italian version of Photo Manipulation scale provided good psychometric properties for assessing photo manipulation strategies and a three-factor solution composed by: (i) Photo filters use, (ii) Body image manipulation, e (iii) Facial image manipulation. Using the revised and validated Photo Manipulation scale, Study 2 was conducted to contribute to the understudied research field concerning predictive factors in boys’ and girls’ control over body image in pictures and photo manipulation. Specifically, the aims of this second study were: (i) evaluate the predictive role of teens’ selfie-expectancies on photo manipulation, (ii) test the mediating effect of body image control in photos on the relationships between expectation underlying selfie practice and photo manipulation, and (iii) evaluate the moderating role of gender on this mediation model. A total of 453 adolescents (47% males; mean age=16.1 years, SD = 1.46), participated in an online survey composed by: (i) Selfie-Expectancies Scale (SES) (Boursier & Manna, 2018), (ii) Revised Body Image Control in Photos Scale (BICP-R) (Boursier & Manna, 2019), (iii) Revised Photo Manipulation Scale (PMS-R) (Boursier, Gioia, McLean, & Griffiths, submitted). , a moderated mediation model has been tested using Model 5 of the Process Macro for SPSS (Hayes, 2017), with 1000 bias-corrected bootstrap samples. The tested mediation model demonstrated that selfie-expectancies were both directly and indirectly positively associated with photo manipulation via body image control in photos. Surprisingly, the present findings demonstrated that being male had a significant and positive direct effect on selfie-expectancies and photo manipulation pathway while being female did not influence the association between them. Finally, within the Self-Objectification Theory (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997) and Objectified Body Consciousness (McKinley & Hyde, 1996) frameworks, in Study 3 two mediation models have been tested. Concerning the first model, (i) the predictive role of body shame on problematic social networking sites use, (ii) the mediating role of body image control in photos on the relationships between these variables, and (iii) the validity of this mediation model across male and female groups have been tested. Similarly, the aims of the second mediation model were: (i) evaluate the predictive role of appearance control beliefs on problematic social networking sites use, (ii) test the mediating role of body image control in photos on the relationships between these variables, and (iii) test the validity of this mediation model across male and female groups. A total of 693 adolescents (45% males; mean age=16 years, SD = 1.58) participated to the study and responded to a questionnaire composed by: (i) the Body Shame subscale (BS) (Dakanalis et al., 2015) of Objectified Body Consciousness Scale (McKinley & Hyde, 1996), (ii) the Appearance Control Beliefs subscale (ACB) (Dakanalis et al., 2015) of Objectified Body Consciousness Scale (McKinley & Hyde, 1996), (iii) Revised Body Image Control in Photos Scale (BICP-R) (Boursier & Manna, 2019), and (iv) Generalized Problematic Internet Use Scale 2 (GPIUS2) (Caplan, 2010; Fioravanti et al., 2013). Path analyses within structural equation modeling (SEM) were used to test the proposed mediation model. The first tested mediation model suggested that body shame was both directly and indirectly positively associated with adolescents’ problematic SNSs use (mostly image-based SNSs) through the mediating effect of body image control in photos. Moreover, the multigroup analysis confirmed the validity of this mediation model across male and female groups, but with higher effects among girls. Concerning the second mediation model, the invariance has not been established. Thus, only among girls, believing in control over own appearance directly and indirectly (via body image control in photos) negatively predicted problematic SNSs use, likely assuming a protective function. Limitations, future research, and practical implications have been discussed