BODY DYSMORPHIC DISORDER: THE EFFECT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON BODY IMAGE DISTORTION IN ADOLESCENT WOMEN

Abstract

In recent decades, the increasing emphasis on body aesthetics and physical appearance has directly influenced how individuals, especially adolescents, perceive their own bodies. Within this context, Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) stands out, a psychiatric condition characterized by obsessive preoccupation with imaginary or insignificant defects in appearance. Therefore, the guiding question of this article was: How can the intensive use of social media impact the construction of self-image in adolescent girls, contributing to the development of perceptual distortions related to their own bodies and favoring the emergence of disorders such as Body Dysmorphic Disorder? Thus, the general objective of this article was to understand how the intensive use of social media influences the construction of self-image in adolescent girls, pointing out its relationship with the development of body-related perceptual distortions and its possible association with Body Dysmorphic Disorder. The type of research conducted was a literature review, where books, dissertations, and scientific articles were selected through searches in the following databases: Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO), Virtual Health Library (BVS), Latin American and Caribbean Literature in Health Sciences (LILACS), MEDLINE, and Google Scholar. It was concluded that the intensive use of social networks, especially those focused on image sharing, such as Instagram, has a significant impact on how adolescent girls construct their self-image.