Advantages and Disadvantages of Internet Use: The Perspective of Women with Eating Disorders Experience
- Resource Type
- Authors
- Hana Drtilová; Martina Šmahelová; David Šmahel
- Source
- Health Communication. 37:791-801
- Subject
- Health (social science)
Internet privacy
MEDLINE
050801 communication & media studies
Context (language use)
Feeding and Eating Disorders
03 medical and health sciences
0508 media and communications
Body Image
medicine
Humans
Czech Republic
Internet
030505 public health
Internet use
business.industry
Communication
05 social sciences
Perspective (graphical)
medicine.disease
Social relation
Eating disorders
Internet Use
Female
The Internet
0305 other medical science
business
Psychology
Uses and gratifications theory
- Language
- ISSN
- 1532-7027
1041-0236
Even though the internet is a common source of information and treatment for people with eating disorder (ED) experience, the motives for illness-related searches have rarely been investigated beyond the perceived negatives. This study explores how women with ED experience reflect upon the advantages and disadvantages of their ED-related internet use. We expand the framework of the Uses and Gratifications Theory (UG) into the context of users with ED experience through 30 semi-structured interviews with women with ED experience, aged 16 to 28, who live in the Czech Republic. Thematic analysis revealed four themes related to the pros and cons of their internet usage: ED-related Information Content; Internet Features Important to Users; Body Image; and Social Interaction. The results challenge the binary view of ED-related internet use and question some presumptions of UG Theory within the specific context of users with ED experience.