Measuring the Effect Heterogeneity of a Seven-Day Instagram Abstinence on Users’ Body Image by Combining Survey and Donated Data

Previous findings reveal that Instagram negatively affects its users’ body image. However, existing studies often rely on small and selective samples, which considerably hinders the generalizability of findings and comparisons between subgroups. Instagram use is often measured via self-reports, which are prone to recall and social desirability biases. Experimental studies investigating the impact of Instagram abstinence on body image use app trackers to monitor treatment compliance. However, these trackers do not provide deeper insights into users' detailed Instagram behavior or the content they consume. To address these limitations, we conduct a two-wave experiment examining how a one-week Instagram abstinence affects respondents’ body image. We recruit 2,000 German Instagram users aged 18 to 65 through a probability-based online panel, randomly assigning them to either treatment (Instagram abstinence) or control group in the first survey wave. In addition to survey questions on body image and Instagram use, respondents are asked to donate their Instagram data in the second survey wave. This approach enables us to objectively measure treatment compliance and explore whether specific subgroups (e.g., defined by gender or age) are more or less affected by Instagram abstinence. Our findings are broadly generalizable by drawing on a large, probability-based sample. At the same time, the combination of survey and donated data offers a more accurate and detailed picture of Instagram use than self-reports alone. Our study contributes both to the applied literature on Instagram’s impact on body image and the methodological literature on data donation. The enhanced generalizability and nuanced understanding of Instagram usage enable us to provide more robust insights into how body image of different population subgroups is influenced by Instagram use. Ultimately, these insights help inform interventions to mitigate social media’s detrimental effects on body image and well-being.