The Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence and the Risk of Eating Disorders Among Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Motivation for the Use of Social Media and Moderation of Perceived Social Support
Abstract
:1. Introduction
The Present Study
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Participants and Procedures
2.2. Measures
2.2.1. Risk of Eating Disorders
2.2.2. Perceived Social Support
2.2.3. Trait Emotional Intelligence
2.2.4. Motivations for Social Media Use
2.3. Statistical Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Descriptive Statistics and Sex Differences
3.2. Correlational Analysis
3.3. Mediation and Moderation Effects
4. Discussion
Limitations and Future Directions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Trait EI | Ability Emotional Intelligence (Ability EI) | |
---|---|---|
Definition | Self-perceived emotional abilities and dispositions (Petrides et al., 2016a) | Cognitive–emotional abilities measured through objective tasks (Mayer et al., 2016) |
Measurement | Self-report questionnaires (e.g., TEIQue) | Performance-based tests (e.g., MSCEIT) |
Association with EDs | Stronger negative correlation with disordered eating behaviors (r = −0.23, p < 0.001) | Weaker negative correlation with disordered eating (r = −0.12, p = 0.010) |
Mechanisms linking to ED risk | Emotion dysregulation, stress vulnerability, reliance on external validation (Zhang et al., 2022) | Limited influence on ED risk, as it mainly involves emotion-related cognitive processes (Zhang et al., 2022) |
Females (n = 195) | Males (n = 193) | Total (n = 388) | F/χ2 | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Screen Time a | 24.21 *** | |||
0–2 h/day | 17 (8.71) | 38 (19.68) | 55 (14.1) | |
3–5 h/day | 81 (41.53) | 97 (50.25) | 178 (46.0) | |
6–8 h/day | 54 (27.70) | 43 (22.28) | 97 (25.0) | |
9–11 h/day | 29 (14.87) | 10 (5.18) | 39 (10.0) | |
>12 h/day | 14 (7.18) | 5 (2.6) | 19 (4.9) | |
Trait EI b | 17.26 *** | |||
Global Score | 4.51 (±0.77) | 4.83 (±0.76) | 4.67 (±0.88) | |
Perceived Social Support b | ||||
MSPSS global score | 68.10 (±13.16) | 66.51 (±13.98) | 67.31 (±0.88) | 1.32 |
EDs Risk a | 31.01 *** | |||
<Cut-Off | 132 (67.70) | 175 (90.67) | 307 (79.1) | |
>Cut-Off | 63 (32.32) | 18 (9.32) | 81 (20.9) | |
Motivation for Social Network b | ||||
Connection | 8.07 (±2.94) | 7.00 (±2.73) | 7.54 (±2.89) | 13.77 *** |
Popularity | 9.47 (±3.94) | 8.31 (±3.96) | 8.90 (±2.89) | 8.27 ** |
Appeareance | 10.51 (±4.64) | 8.87 (±4.90) | 9.70 (±4.59) | 12.77 *** |
Values and Interests | 7.26 (±2.97) | 7.06 (±3.05) | 7.17 (±3.02) | 0.42 |
1. | 2. | 3. | 4. | 5. | 6. | 7. | 8. | 9. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. Age | |||||||||
2. Screen Time | 0.10 * | 1 | |||||||
3. Trait EI | −0.05 | −0.26 *** | 1 | ||||||
4. EDs risk | 0.04 | 0.15 ** | −0.39 *** | 1 | |||||
5. PSS | 0.00 | −0.04 | 0.48 *** | −0.15 ** | 1 | ||||
6. Connection | 0.05 | 0.21 *** | −0.29 *** | 0.22 *** | −0.09 | 1 | |||
7. Popularity | −0.03 | 0.24 *** | −0.18 *** | 0.21 *** | −0.03 | 0.57 *** | 1 | ||
8. Appearance | −0.00 | 0.19 *** | −0.31 *** | 0.27 *** | −0.15 ** | 0.61 *** | 0.64 *** | 1 | |
9. Interests | 0.10 * | −0.02 | 0.00 | 0.13 ** | 0.04 | 0.22 *** | 0.18 *** | 0.19 *** | 1 |
Model | Paths | R2 | F | B | SE | z | 95% CI |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Model 1 | 0.18 | 21.35 *** | |||||
Trait EI → ED risk | −10.92 *** | 3.05 | −3.57 | [−17.11; −5.14] | |||
Popularity → ED risk | 0.37 ** | 0.12 | 3.06 | [0.14; 0.61] | |||
PSS → ED risk | −0.35 | 0.19 | −1.77 | [−0.75; 0.01] | |||
Trait EI × PSS → ED risk | 0.08 * | 0.04 | 1.97 | [0.01; 0.17] | |||
Trait EI → Popularity | −0.09 *** | 0.25 | −3.72 | [−1.44; −0.44] | |||
Trait EI → Popularity → ED risk | −0.35 * | 0.15 | −2.36 | [−0.65; −0.06] | |||
Model 2 | 0.19 | 21.98 *** | |||||
Trait EI → ED risk | −11.03 *** | 3.05 | −3.61 | [−17.02; −5.04] | |||
Appearance → ED risk | 0.37 *** | 0.11 | 3.37 | [0.15; −0.58] | |||
PSS → ED risk | −0.36 | 0.19 | −1.86 | [−0.75; 0.02] | |||
Trait EI × PSS → ED risk | 0.09 * | 0.04 | 2.10 | [0.00; 0.17] | |||
Trait EI → Appearance | −1.84 *** | 0.28 | −6.52 | [−2.40; −1.30] | |||
Trait EI → Appearance → ED risk | −0.68 ** | 0.22 | −3.00 | [−1.13; −0.23] | |||
Model 3 | 0.17 | 20.23 *** | |||||
Trait EI → ED risk | −11.22 *** | 3.07 | −3.65 | [−17.42; −5.37] | |||
Connection → ED risk | 0.40 * | 0.17 | 2.34 | [0.07; 0.75] | |||
PSS → ED risk | −0.37 | 0.19 | −1.87 | [0.77; 0.00] | |||
Trait EI × PSS → ED risk | 0.09 * | 0.04 | 2.08 | [0.08; 0.18] | |||
Trait EI → Connection | −1.08 *** | 0.18 | −6.04 | [−1.43; −0.73] | |||
Trait EI → Connection → ED risk | −0.44 * | 0.20 | −2.18 | [−0.84; −0.05] | |||
Model 4 | 0.18 | 21.61 *** | |||||
Trait EI → ED risk | −12.51 * | 3.05 | −4.09 | [−18.49; −6.52] | |||
Values/interests → ED risk | 0.05 | 0.15 | 3.19 | [0.19; 0.82] | |||
PSS → ED risk | −0.42 | 0.19 | −2.15 | [−0.81; −0.03] | |||
Trait EI × PSS → ED risk | 0.10 * | 0.04 | 2.36 | [0.02; 0.19] | |||
Trait EI → Values/interests | 0.03 | 0.19 | 0.16 | [−0.35; 0.41] | |||
Trait EI → Values/interests → ED risk | 0.01 | 0.10 | 0.16 | [−18; 0.21] |
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Riolo, M.; Piombo, M.A.; Spicuzza, V.; Novara, C.; La Grutta, S.; Epifanio, M.S. The Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence and the Risk of Eating Disorders Among Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Motivation for the Use of Social Media and Moderation of Perceived Social Support. Behav. Sci. 2025, 15, 434. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15040434
Riolo M, Piombo MA, Spicuzza V, Novara C, La Grutta S, Epifanio MS. The Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence and the Risk of Eating Disorders Among Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Motivation for the Use of Social Media and Moderation of Perceived Social Support. Behavioral Sciences. 2025; 15(4):434. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15040434
Chicago/Turabian StyleRiolo, Martina, Marco Andrea Piombo, Vittoria Spicuzza, Cinzia Novara, Sabina La Grutta, and Maria Stella Epifanio. 2025. "The Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence and the Risk of Eating Disorders Among Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Motivation for the Use of Social Media and Moderation of Perceived Social Support" Behavioral Sciences 15, no. 4: 434. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15040434
APA StyleRiolo, M., Piombo, M. A., Spicuzza, V., Novara, C., La Grutta, S., & Epifanio, M. S. (2025). The Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence and the Risk of Eating Disorders Among Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Motivation for the Use of Social Media and Moderation of Perceived Social Support. Behavioral Sciences, 15(4), 434. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15040434