title: Proeating disorder websites and subjective well-being: A four-country study on young people.
abstract: Proeating disorder (pro-ED) communities online encourage harmful weight-loss and weight-control practices. This study examined the association between exposure to pro-ED content online and subjective well-being (SWB) among adolescents and young adults in four countries.
  
  
  
  Cross-national data were collected in the US, Germany, the UK and Finland from Internet users aged 15-30 years (N = 3,557; 50.15% male). The questionnaire assessed SWB, exposure to harm-advocating websites, online activity, prior victimization, and social belonging. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression models assessed the relationship between SWB and pro-ED exposure and adjusted for a number of confounding factors.
  
  
  
  Of the participants, 17% had been exposed to pro-ED content (US 20%, Germany 7%, UK 21%, Finland 22%). Exposure to pro-ED content online was negatively associated with SWB in the US, Germany, and Finland, also after adjusting for the confounding factors. Offline social belonging moderated the association between pro-ED and SWB.
  
  
  
  Participants who visited pro-ED websites reported lower SWB than others did. The potentially harmful impact of visiting these sites was buffered by the strong offline social belonging. Given the observed similarities across the countries, it is important for families, health professionals, and educators to stay abreast of online communities that have possible contra recovery influences and to be able to discuss such Internet contents in a way that increases treatment motivation. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (Int J Eat Disord 2017; 50:50-57).
authors.affiliation: School of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland.
authors.forename: Tuuli
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Turja
authors.affiliation: School of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland.
authors.forename: Atte
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Oksanen
authors.affiliation: School of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland.
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kaakinen
authors.affiliation: School of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland.
authors.forename: Anu
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sirola
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland.|Department of Adolescent Psychiatry, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland.
authors.forename: Riittakerttu
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kaltiala-Heino
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Research, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.
authors.forename: Pekka
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Räsänen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D058445:Bullying; D005060:Europe; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D016018:Least-Squares Analysis; D008297:Male; D012929:Psychological Distance; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D064878:Web Browser; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: SWB; eating disorders; internet; online communities; pro-ED; social belonging; social media; well-being