Abstract

Background: Anorexia nervosa (AN) commonly emerges during adolescence and disproportionately affects girls. In recent years, problematic social media use (PSMU) has been identified as a potential sociocultural risk factor for eating disorder symptoms; however, the psychosocial pathways linking PSMU to AN symptomatology remain insufficiently understood. This study examined the associations between PSMU and AN symptoms in adolescent girls and explored the roles of perceived parenting style and childhood traumatic experiences as explanatory pathways. Methods: A cross-sectional, school-based survey was conducted with 463 adolescent girls aged 13–18 years in İstanbul, Türkiye. Participants completed validated self-report measures assessing AN symptoms (Eating Attitudes Test–26), problematic social media use (Social Media Disorder Scale), perceived parenting style (Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire), and childhood trauma (Childhood Trauma Questionnaire). Structural equation modeling was used to examine direct and indirect associations between PSMU and AN symptoms, controlling for age, body mass index, and socioeconomic indicators. Indirect effects were tested using bias-corrected bootstrapping. Results: Problematic social media use was directly associated with greater AN symptom severity (β = 0.18, p < 0.001). Significant indirect associations were also observed via perceived parenting style (β = 0.06, 95% CI [0.03, 0.11]) and childhood traumatic experiences (β = 0.07, 95% CI [0.04, 0.12]). Childhood trauma accounted for a larger proportion of the indirect association, while parenting style contributed a smaller but significant pathway. When both pathways were included simultaneously, the direct association between PSMU and AN symptoms remained significant, indicating partial mediation. Model fit indices indicated good overall fit. Conclusions: Problematic social media use is meaningfully associated with anorexia nervosa symptoms among adolescent girls, both directly and through indirect pathways involving parenting context and childhood trauma. Childhood trauma may be interpreted as a variable showing a significant indirect statistical association with both problematic social media use and anorexia nervosa symptoms, rather than a causal determinant within the present design. These findings underscore the importance of integrated, trauma-informed and family-sensitive prevention strategies that address adolescents’ digital environments alongside broader psychosocial vulnerabilities.

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