Examining the Potential Effects of Cyberbullying on the Development of Body Dysmorphic Disorder

Presenter Information

Colin Seifert, Minnesota State University, Mankato

Location

CSU 204

Start Date

2-4-2019 11:05 AM

End Date

2-4-2019 12:05 PM

Student's Major

Psychology

Student's College

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Mentor's Name

Jeffrey Brown

Mentor's Department

Psychology

Mentor's College

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Description

More and more in today's society the prevalence of social media has had multiple consequences on the way people perceive themselves and their appearance. Body dysmorphic disorder is an extreme illness where people obsess over perceived flaws in their appearance to the point where suicidal ideation occurs in as many 80% of sufferers, with 25% attempting suicide. Research needs to be conducted to assess the impact of cyberbullying on social media platforms on the development of body dysmorphic disorder. I have created a questionnaire that combines cyberbullying components with a body esteem scale and will distribute it on Qualtrics as a way to evaluate the prevalence of body dysmorphic disorder on campus. I expect to find that there is a correlation between cyberbullying behaviors and the presence of low body esteem which can suggest the possibility of one developing symptoms of body dysmorphic disorder as a result of their experience online. The results of this study will aid in the development of interventions that will recognize the negative behaviors online and help prevent the development of body dysmorphic disorder.