Body dissatisfaction in older adults: The role of social media, emotion regulation, social support, emotional distress, and coping strategies

Several factors have been related to body dissatisfaction, such as problematic social media use (PSMU), emotion regulation, emotional distress, coping strategies, and social support. However, little is known about psychological variables related to body dissatisfaction among older adults. This study has two aims: 1) to examine sex differences in body dissatisfaction, PSMU, emotion regulation, emotional distress, coping strategies, and social support; and 2) to study the relationship between body dissatisfaction and the study variables based on sex. A total of 736 participants over 60 years completed several instruments: eating disorders inventory (EDI-II), social media addiction questionnaire (ARS), depression, anxiety and stress scale (DASS-21), cognitive-emotion regulation questionnaire (CERQ), and coping strategies inventory (CSI). The results showed that older women showed higher levels of body dissatisfaction. Moreover, social support as coping strategy and blaming others were related to body dissatisfaction in women. Conversely, anxiety, depression, PSMU, coping strategies, and impaired emotion regulation strategies were related to body dissatisfaction in men. In conclusion, despite the cross-sectional nature, the findings point out that older adults may be vulnerable to body dissatisfaction. Consequently, a feasible intervention should include education on social media, emotion regulation, and adaptive coping strategies to improve body acceptance.