Evaluando la relación entre la adicción a las redes sociales y los trastornos alimentarios en una muestra de estudiantes universitarios peruanos: un estudio transversal

Social media addiction has become an increasingly common problem affecting individuals of various ages. This phenomenon can significantly interfere with daily activities, the emotional well-being of users, and their interpersonal relationships. Additionally, the need to be constantly connected can lead to mental health issues. The present research aimed to determine whether there is a relationship between social media addiction and eating disorders in a sample of Peruvian university students. A quantitative, non-experimental, correlational, and cross-sectional study was conducted. The sample consisted of 297 students selected through probabilistic sampling, who were administered the Social Media Addiction Questionnaire (ARS) and the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26), instruments with adequate metric properties. Preliminary results indicate that the predominant level of social media addiction was low, while most students did not show a risk of developing eating disorders. Furthermore, it was determined that the Spearman rho correlation coefficient between the two variables was 0.295 and the p-value was below the significance level (p < 0.05). It was concluded that there is a significant relationship between social media addiction and eating disorders in a sample of Peruvian university students. This means that as the level of social media addiction increases, there is also an observed increase in the prevalence or severity of eating disorders.