‘‘i love my bones!’’ – self-harm and dangerous eating youth behaviours in portuguese...

‘‘I love my bones!’’ – self-harm anddangerous eating youth behaviours inPortuguese written blogs

Teresa Sofia Castro and Antonio Jose Osorio

Abstract

Purpose – Family, media and peer pressure seem to influence adolescent development activating the

perception and internalisation of thin ideals that may trigger dieting, bingeing and other self-harming

disorders. The proliferation of problematic online content consumed and produced by young people,

such as in the case of pro-anorexic web sites, seem to worry not only parents but also young people. The

aim of this work is to analyse content produced by a group of Portuguese speaking pro-anorexic

adolescents in order to better understand how social and cultural pressures may influence their

disruptive behaviours and how they seem to cope with them.

Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative exploratory content analysis examined 11

Portuguese-speaking blogs written by teenagers (boys and girls) between 13 and 19 years old who

use these environments to validate their pro-anorexic lifestyle, share body and image issues or search

for diets and support from like-minded others.

Findings – Blogs content analysis suggest that peer pressure, need for acceptance, and conflicts with

parents denote the power of subliminal messages, revealing that, even at very young ages,

stereotypical messages may be easily understood and internalised. The authors organised the

collected evidence into three categories: common shared content found in the pro-anorexic blogs;

celebrities and fashion models that young people worship as thinspiration; how youth deal with parental,

peer and social and cultural pressures.

Research limitations/implications – Although this is a very small group of blogs, this work offers a

research contribution about pro-anorexic dangerous content consumed, produced and disseminated

online by Portuguese speaking young people. This exploratory study is a starting point for further

research. This is a field the authors intend to explore deeply using more child centred and participative

research techniques in order to fully understand the issues at stake and to get the actual young people’s

point of view and experiences.

Originality/value – Provisional findings trigger the authors’ concern and scientific interest in learning

more about pro-anorexic and other self-harming disruptive online content produced and consumed by

young people. With this study they aim to help to raise awareness among parents, caregivers and

teachers about problematic eating and self-harming contents as they may affect adolescent

development and well-being.

Keywords Internet, Adolescence, Body-image, Peer pressure, Pro-anorexia, Thinspiration, Portugal

Paper type Research paper

Introduction

The need to conduct this exploratory study arose during a literature review about specific

risky contents easily available on the internet, as is the case of disrupting and self-harming

pro-anorexia material. The emergency of online socialising environments coupled with the

increasingly active participation of young people on the internet provides complex venues

that challenge and worry society in general, parents, caregivers, educators and scientists.

Therefore, the aim of this work is to analyse contents produced by a group of Portuguese

speaking pro-anorexic adolescents in order to better understand how social and cultural

DOI 10.1108/YC-03-2013-00351 VOL. 14 NO. 4 , pp. 321-330, Q Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 1747-3616 j YOUNG CONSUMERS j PAGE 321

Teresa Sofia Castro is a

Scholarship Researcher,

and Antonio Jose Osorio

are both at the Institute of

Education, University of

Minho, Braga, Portugal.

Received 25 March 2013Revised 10 July 2013Accepted 15 August 2013

This doctoral investigation isfinanced by POPH – QREN –Type 4.1 – Advanced Training,European Social Fund andPortuguese national fundingfrom the Ministry of Educationand Science, through FCT –Fundacao para a Ciencia e aTecnologia, under a researchgrant with the referenceSFRH/BD/68288/2010.

pressures may influence their disruptive behaviours and how they seem to cope with

them[1].

To this end, first we present a brief theoretical framework to explain the purpose and

importance of this study that fits into the overall theme of a broader doctoral research

project. Second, we make a brief description of the methodological and ethical choices

made during this exploratory study. Then, in order to get a deep understanding of the

pro-anorexic reality among Portuguese speaking young people, we present a descriptive

and interpretative analysis, followed by a brief discussion of the data collected from the

empirical corpus of this investigation. Finally, we draw some provisional findings and

evaluate our work in terms of its limitations and value.

Theoretical framework

Issues related to standards of beauty, fitting in and body image are important concerns that

may play an important role in the adolescent development and well-being. During the

transitional stage (Gallego et al., 2011) known as adolescence, when body and personality

begins to take shape and change, some life experiences can cause anxiety and even lack of

confidence or self-esteem that can trigger problems related with body image dissatisfaction.

Fashion industry, the media and the need for social acceptance, particularly among peers,

seem to play a very significant and influential role that may challenge adolescent cognitive,

emotional and behavioural responses in order to achieve a more slender body. Tiggemann

et al. (2000), supported by research about body image, point out that in response to social

and cultural pressures and motivated by body dissatisfaction ‘‘the majority of adolescent

girls wish to be thinner’’ (p. 645) and because of that ‘‘many engage in dieting and other

weight loss behaviours’’ (p. 645).

According to the literature, an integrated analysis including the various roles played by

family, peers, and the media is required in order to study the culture of thinness (Dhillon and

Dhawan, 2011) as a symbol of happiness, health and social success revered by youth in the

modern and globalised society. Since family is the first socialising agent in young people’s

lives, parents and siblings’ behaviours towards weight (e.g. judgements, comments about

their own and others weight) seem to influence the eating patterns and the body image of

young people (Ricciardelli and McCabe, 2001; Ricciardelli et al., 2000). The socialisation

process in school also influences young people’s lives. Peers pressure during youth reaches

a dominant role in the adolescent life; processes like the perception and internalisation of

thin ideals (when the individual associates thinness with positive ideals, like happiness,

attractiveness or status) are activated. Also, teasing and comparisons of body appearances

among peers are common, and may lead to image and body dissatisfaction, which may, in

turn, trigger dieting, bingeing and other eating disorders (Ricciardelli and McCabe, 2001;

Ricciardelli et al., 2000). According to evidence from a study by Tiggemann and Miller’s

(2010) ‘‘the majority of girls found out about web sites through their friends, with 82.5 per

cent reporting this as the major source, followed by search engines (e.g. Google) at 17.5 per

cent. The only ‘‘other’’ source commonly reported was family members, such as brothers

and sisters’’ (p. 83). However, despite the influence that family and peers may have, the

media seem to be the strongest sociocultural influence (Ricciardelli et al., 2000; Rodgers

et al., 2012; Tiggemann et al., 2000) in the eating patterns and the body image of young

people (Anschutz et al., 2011). It is believed that the media seem to influence and affect

negatively the image, size and body shape of individuals (Ricciardelli et al., 2000) by

promoting emaciated stereotypical ideals impossible to achieve and leading youth to ‘‘the

belief that thinness and attractiveness are the cultural norm’’ (Tiggemann et al., 2000,

p. 655). Images of attractive muscular men and extra-slim women in ‘‘magazines, television,

films, billboards, and other electronic and print media’’ (Lorenzen et al., 2004, p. 743) invade

the daily lives of young people ‘‘evok[ing] comparisons between themselves and [those]

unrealistic media images of thinness and/or muscularity’’ (Lorenzen et al., 2004, p. 743).

According to theorists, exposure to that sort of pictures that promote extreme thinness

(e.g. through dieting, exercise, Photoshop manipulated images, cosmetic surgery) is linked

to eating disorders pathologies (Anschutz et al., 2008; Ricciardelli et al., 2000), decrease of

PAGE 322 jYOUNG CONSUMERSj VOL. 14 NO. 4

self-esteem (Bardone-Cone and Cass, 2007a), dieting (Tiggemann et al., 2000), and body

image dissatisfaction (Anschutz et al., 2008; Clay et al., 2005).

More recently, the emergence and visibility of social media-sharing services in the internet

drew the attention of society. The proliferation of unregulated and problematic material

consumed, disseminated and produced by young people, such is the case of ‘‘pro-ana’’

(also known as pro-anorexia is not listed as a disease; pro-anorexia is a social movement

that honours anorexic behaviours as a lifestyle) contents, seem to increase and stimulate all

sort of unsafe eating, image, self-harming and social disordered behaviours whose

consequences seem to worry not only parents (Ponte et al., 2012) but also young people

(Livingstone et al., 2013). Pro-anorexia is a social movement inspired in the mental disease

known as ‘‘Anorexia Nervosa’’, and exists in the internet through online web sites (Fox et al.,

2005). Being ‘‘pro-ana’’ is a lifestyle choice (Bardone-Cone and Cass, 2007b; Brotsky and

Giles, 2007; Davies and Lipsey, 2003; Giles, 2006), grounded on anorexic behaviours

(Williams, 2009) that results in ‘‘an effective way to diet’’ (Overbeke, 2008, p. 56) with

subsequent risks to health.

Meanwhile, ‘‘pro-ana’’ platforms seem to gain increasing importance and meaning in young

people lives as they seem to lack offline support from health professionals, family and

friends. As Juarascio et al. (2010) explain, individuals suffering from eating pathologies have

more difficulty in the establishment of social ties, because they avoid social mingling

especially if it involves food, and normally they suffer from depression, emotional confusion,

anxiety, obsessions and shyness. The pro-anorexic online platforms tend to become popular

because they represent a safe, neutral (Brotsky and Giles, 2007; Dias, 2003; Williams, 2009)

and inclusive environment, where the deviant and marginalised group of individuals can

come together; find relief and acceptance to express their feelings (Wold et al., 2009) and

thoughts; can validate disruptive and self-harm behaviours without fearing criticisms or

rejection. By self-harm we mean ‘‘a category of practices that cause the body harm

regardless of intention (e.g. – ‘‘cutting’’, eating disorders, and suicidal behaviour)’’ (Boyd

et al., 2010).

Given this theoretical framework, and taking in consideration that: young people are active

consumers and producers of problematic online contents that are easily disseminated and

available in the internet; pro-anorexia is a potentially harmful and growing social movement;

and ‘‘pro-ana’’ web sites stimulate unhealthy behaviours that can injure young people, the

need arises for a more deep study of these youth generated contents once they encourage

to a potentially harmful and risky lifestyle grounded in disruptive and self-harming

behaviours like fasting, cutting or suicidal thoughts or attempts.

Methodological and ethical decisions

Method

During the task of reviewing the literature on problematic contents on the internet,

pro-anorexia literature keywords like ‘‘thinspiration’’, ‘‘pro-ana’’, ‘‘ana prayer’’, and ‘‘thin is

beautiful’’ guided us through an online search using Google. From the surprisingly high

amount of results obtained the first web site that caught our attention was a blog written by a

Portuguese teenager boy. This means that if in the past, disruptive eating behaviours were

considered a problem that only affected women it also corroborates that ‘‘disordered eating

behaviours can occur regardless of gender’’ (Juarez et al., 2012, p. 48), age or ethnicity

(Derenne and Beresin, 2006; Williams, 2009). Thereafter, we became interested in analysing

the contents produced by this adolescent boy but also the material written by other

adolescents that were following these blogger testimonials. We mapped 11 Portuguese

(five) and Brazilian (six) blogs written by boys (two) and girls (nine), aged between 13 and 19

years old. For several months we observed passively the interactions and the contents of the

blogs. The use of a passive observation helped us gain access to an authentic and

spontaneous pro-anorexic environment and to get more acquainted with the pro-anorexic

slang, and daily life of young people with eating disruptive behaviours. In order to analyse

the data and deepen knowledge regarding the ‘‘pro-ana’’ movement in Portuguese written

VOL. 14 NO. 4 jYOUNG CONSUMERSj PAGE 323

context, we used a qualitative approach to study the blogs considered eligible to meet the

goals of the research.

Ethics

Considering the secrecy that surrounds these environments we made some choices to meet

our ethical principles and dilemmas, which we will explain next.

Public and private

Young people perceive the concepts ‘‘public’’ and ‘‘private’’ differently from adults. What

they post online is private for ‘‘people they know in real life (e.g. parents, friends, teachers,

etc.)’’ (Stern, 2004, p. 277) who are not allowed to ‘‘see, hear or read it, regardless of who

else does’’ (Stern, 2004, p. 277). Also researchers may be perceived as intruders capable of

damaging these online groups (Eysenbach and Till, 2001), ‘‘[b]ut we also cannot use

privacy to justify not looking when people are hurting or when they’re crying out for help’’

(Boyd, 2009, para.23). Taking this in consideration, we established somemoral guidelines to

select and use only publicly available data (Brownlow and O’Dell, 2002) (this is explained in

the confidentiality subtopic).

Informed consent

During the exploratory study, we were faced with a big challenge regarding informed

consent. But, despite the ethical dilemmas, we also were conscious that the dismantlement

of the group was not a research goal. In order to consciously resolve this concern, we

researched whether consent was avoided in other studies. We found out that informed

consent was not requested in the following researches: Dias (2003), Giles (2006), Laksmana

(2002) Lyons et al. (2006), Walstrom (2000), Norris et al. (2006), Harshbarger et al. (2009)

and Boero and Pascoe (2012). Thus, attending our research goals and the unique

circumstances of this group we did not ask for permission to gather and analyse the publicly

available data posted in the blogs.

Confidentiality

To protect the confidentiality of the pro-anorexic bloggers we have encrypted the data

collected in folders that are only accessible the researchers involved; information such as

the blogger name (or nickname), and the blog URL will not be disclosed; personal pictures

or other material capable of identifying these individuals in the web will not be revealed; iv)

complete verbatim transcriptions will be avoided and will be translated in international

research products; we used a code (B1 to B11) to classify the blogs.

Evidence collected

In order to respond to the theoretical framework presented in the first part of this article, we

organised the collected evidence into three categories: common shared contents found in

the pro-anorexic blogs; celebrities and fashions models that young people worship as

thinspiration; how youth deal with parental, peers and social and cultural pressures.

The pro-anorexic blogs share self-harming common contents

It is possible to recognise common contents that enable to identify these blogs as ‘‘pro-ana’’

socialising and intimate platforms. In the web logs we were able to find information about

diets (e.g. milk diet; Beyonce diet; Angelina Jolie diet), drugs (e.g. laxatives, diuretics,

energetic, appetite suppressants), tips and tricks (e.g. to induce vomit: chew well the food to

make it easier and less painful the expulsion of food when vomiting; drinking plenty of water

helps in the expelling of the food afterwards; avoid crispy, spicy and acidic food; vomiting

within ten minutes after the ingestion of food; to disguise traces of vomiting: vomit in the

shower; to hide weight loss: wear baggy clothes; to distract the mind from food and deceive

hunger: bubble gum; cigars; heartburn pills; clean the WC; sleep; to hide cutting practice:

make the cuts in body parts that are easy to hide, with clothing or bracelets, such as the legs,

stomach, ankles and wrists); discussions around the most effective exercises and fitness


routines to lose weight (e.g. dance, gymnastics, ballet, martial arts, swimming, running);

information about medical experiences (e.g. treatments, doctors, hospitalisation); personal

pictures that are posted as proof of emaciation and cutting; to obtain peers approval; as

inspiration for other ‘‘pro-anas’’; thinspirational contents (all sort of material that inspires,

encourages and supports these young people to behave in an anorexic way, e.g. quotes,

music, videos, TV series, pictures); reporting feeling parental control in the internet (some of

those who felt that kind of pressure decided to change the web log URL); testimonials about

cutting, suicidal thoughts and self-punishment practices; health problems that arise as a

consequence of bloggers disruptive eating behaviours (e.g. hair loss; stomach ache;

tiredness; low heart rate; depression; menorrhea; bone pain; blurred vision and dizziness;

fainting; anaemia).

To better visualise where and how often we found these contents, observe Table I where a

code from B1 to B11 was assigned to each blog.

Celebrities and fashion models are body image thinspirations

Pictures of celebrities (movie stars, singers and top models) are the blogs most posted

thinspirational contents. In the blogs, we were able to see pictures of thin women/men,

particularly models and celebrities. They post those pictures as an inspiration to achieve

body and image goals. Those celebrities are used to get media attention for reasons that are

related with their eating disruptive behaviours, and others because they have died from

anorexia or other eating disruptive behaviour. The pictures work as a stimulus for maintaining

diets, starving and weight loss. They also post curiosities and information about celebrities,

such as how they remain in shape or how the anorexia affects(ed) their lives.

Inspirational models mentioned in these web logs are, Kate Moss, Keira Knightley, Megan

Fox, Lindsay Lohan, Taylor Momsen (also known as Jenny Humphrey in Gossip Girl),

Miranda Kerr, Taylor Swift, Amy Winehouse (deceased), Nicole Richie, Paris Hilton, Jeremy

Gillitzer (deceased), Avril Lavigne, Nina (role played by Natalie Portman in Black Swan) and

the twins Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen.

Pro-anorexic testimonials about dealing with parental, peers and other social and cultural

offline pressures

The testimonials published in the blogs seem to reflect not only the inner self of the

individuals but also internal and external conflicts and dilemmas. In the free judgemental

environment of the blog, feelings of misunderstanding, insecurity, frustration, and

depression are expressed. To better understand the intimate environment of these

platforms a subjective interpretative analysis of selected testimonials will follow.

Table I Common features found in the Portuguese written blogs

Examples of contents found in the pro-anorexicblogs B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 B6 B7 B8 B9 B10 B11

Information about diets † † † † † † † † † †

Information about drugs † † † † † † †

Tips and tricks † † † † † † †

Exercise and fitness routines † † † † † † † † † †

Medical experiences † † † † † † † † † †

Pictures as proof of emaciation and cutting † † † † † † † † †

Thinspirational quotes † † † † † † † †

Thinspirational videos/music † † † † † † † †

Thinspirational pictures † † † † † † † † †

Thinspirational TV series (e.g. America’s NextTop Model, Skins, Gossip Girl)

† † †

Report parental control in internet † † †

Changed the blog URL † † †

Cutting, suicidal thoughts and self-punishmentpractices

† † † † † † † † † †

Health problems † † † † † †


Dealing with parental pressure

Conflicts with parents are frequently reported. Conflicts around food or appearance are

frequent causes of divergences that usually start when sudden decrease in appetite,

skipping meals and weight loss becomes noticed.

Examples (our translation):

(. . .) my mother is keeping a close eye on me (B9).

I invented that chocolate, ice cream and chips make me sick [. . .] to stop them [parents] from

offering them to me . . . (B9).

Dealing with peers pressure

In the sentence below it is important to notice the use of words like ‘‘obligation’’ that reflects

the level of demand they place on themselves. ‘‘School’’ reflects that this is kind of pressure

that comes from peers. ‘‘[B]efore school starts’’ is the timeframe that one of the bloggers has

to achieve the acceptable weight and it also seems to reinforce the need to be ready to fit in

before facing peers, possible judgments or body and weight comparisons.

Example (our translation):

I have an obligation to be at most [. . .] kg before school starts (B2). [For confidentiality reasons we

have erased the weight.]

In the following example ‘‘bullying’’ is the clue word, suggesting that possibly weight is the

motive to have been bullied before and, because of that, the weight became a major

concern.


Makes 4 years I study in the same college and I’m afraid to suffer from bullying again (B2).

Dealing with other social and cultural pressures

Others opinion matters and is important for getting personal acceptance. We interpret the

use of expressions like ‘‘life at stake’’ or ‘‘[t]he way people see me’’ in the sentences below

as, no matter at what cost, body image matters and what people may think of or the opinions

they express about one self-image is meaningful to get social acceptance and to achieve

personal fulfilment. At the end, all the starvation sacrifices (e.g. ‘‘I’ll manage to eat till 800

calories or less’’) are justified when social approval is granted.


(. . .) I think I’ll manage to eat till 800 calories or less. I have to do so. It’s my life at stake. The way

people see me and the future (B9).

The following sentences express the power of subliminal messages. As we will see they

seem to suggest that, even at a very young age, body image preconceptions may be easily

well understood and internalised. For instance, thinness seems to project a mental image of

success and happiness. However, they are also aware that such desired perfection is not

achievable without health prejudice.


Fat, happy? I doubt it! (B1).

(. . .) it is impossible to be healthy and have the perfect body (B1).

In the world we live, chubby have no chance (B3).

I know I’m killing myself, but being fat is worse than dying (B3).

Also pro-anorexic testimonials reveal negative moods. Feelings like despair, frustration or

being misunderstood by family, friends or peers are very common in these digital journals.


I’m weak. I cannot stand this [. . .] I want to disappear [. . .] Nobody understands my pain . . . (B9).


And feelings of pride and joy are expressed when goals are accomplished.


I love my bones all over my body (. . .) I am a thinspiration (B11).

Discussion

Blogs content analysis suggest that peers pressure, need for acceptance, and conflicts with

parents denote the power of subliminal messages, revealing that, even at very young ages,

stereotypical messages may be easily well understood and internalised. During the

exploratory study we have found a positive relationship between social and cultural

pressures and engaging in disruptive and self-harming/destructive behaviours, such as

starving or cutting. Bloggers testimonials support this inference pointing us some possible

causes that may have triggered the dangerous and self-harming behaviours as a way to

deal with external and internal pressures: suffering from bullying in school for being fat (B1),

the ‘‘nobody likes me’’ feeling (B4, B5), the desire of being a fashion model (B7),

obsessive-compulsive disorder (diagnosed in one case) (B3), depression (B11), social

pressures with weight (B3), not accepting the body growth turning into an adult body (B8).

Although, studies suggest that no negative effect comes from viewing pro-anorexic contents

(Juarascio et al., 2010), according to our experience on the subject and studies from

Bardone-Cone and Cass (2007) and Custers and Van Den Bulck (2009), we tend to share

another point-of-view. We therefore believe that regularly viewing images of thin people and

pro-anorexic contents may activate negative impacts and consequences for young people’s

self-esteem (Bardone-Cone and Cass, 2007a); and visiting ‘‘pro-ana’’ web sites may trigger

unsafe responses, like engaging in self-harming/destructive behaviours to get a slimmer

perfect shaped body and be just like the celebrities they worship.

However, young people ‘‘are not necessarily passive recipients that are simply ‘influenced’

by media and/or group dynamics’’ (Mulveen and Hepworth, 2006, p. 285), they are also

‘‘actively creating, changing and making sense of their social worlds’’ (Mulveen and

Hepworth, 2006, p. 285) sometimes producing and disseminating problematic contents and

contributing to the onset of collateral physical and psychological health damages that may

endanger their own and other young people’s lives. Given those reasons we cannot assure

that these environments are harmless. And a worrying proof is the dangerous contents that

followers read and share through their own web logs. Of the 11 blogs we have analysed five

have hundreds of followers (B1-176 followers; B3-251; B6-104, B7-423, and B11-362

followers. This data has collected on March 12, 2012); three have less than 100 followers;

and only three have less than fifty followers. Pro-anorexic web sites are resourceful

repositories to which one can easily get access and find a huge list of risky contents from

which we believe that more negative (than positive) outcomes are expected as they

contribute for: the proliferation of self-harm and problematic eating behaviours contents;

encouraging body, image and self-esteem disruptive behaviours; irreversible damages to

young peoples health; promoting alienation from offline social ties; the growth of the online

pro-anorexic dangerous movement.

In regard to the analysed blogs, we are led to believe that the internet is a powerful mean that

helps keeping the ‘‘pro-ana’’ online movement alive, contributing for the consumption,

dissemination and production of more problematic contents. During the study we have

noticed that, for instance, one blogger started the blog after a research for diets on the

internet; other bloggers see the internet as a wide source of diet information and a powerful

tool to meet like-minded virtual friends; another one recognised that the blog was a harming

platform.

Consequently, it is important to note that parents, caregivers and teachers have an important

role throughout young’s people development in order to contribute with a safer

psychological, emotional and social environment that can help prepare young people to

critically evaluate social and cultural messages as well as the information they search for or


find online preventing them of secretly engaging in seriously disruptive and

self-harming/destructive behaviours.

Provisional findings

For this group of young bloggers social acceptance, happiness and success is associated

to standards of flawless beauty and perfection. So, during the exploratory study we read

about worrying obsessive concerns with food, self-image and ways to achieve the ‘‘perfect’’

body. To achieve body and image goals the individuals wrote about how they were willing to

endanger their own health. Interestingly, in the two young male blogs, we were able to notice

that they were obsessed with pictures of thinness (like the girls), and not with muscular or

manly bodies. The internet becomes popular among these groups because it is a powerful

resource that helps the maintenance of dangerous behaviours and it also represents a safe

nest where pro-anorexics can share information and experiences with other like-minded

individuals. We also observed that once they begin to bond online with other ‘‘pro-ana’’

followers, the strongest pressure that sustains the unsafe eating, image and social

disordered behaviours comes from the need to keep the anorexic lifestyle in order to receive

support from the pro-anorexic group.

Research limitations/implications

Although this is a very small group of blogs, this work offers a research contribution about

pro-anorexic dangerous contents consumed, produced and disseminated online by

Portuguese speaking young people. This exploratory study is a starting point for further

research. This is a field we intend to explore deeply using more child centred and

participative research techniques in order to fully understand the issues at stake and to get

the actual young people’s point-of-view and experiences.

Originality/value

Provisional findings trigger our concern and scientific interest in learning more about

pro-anorexic and other self-harming disruptive online contents produced, disseminated and

consumed by young people. So, with this study we aim to help to raise awareness among

parents, caregivers and teachers about problematic eating and self-harming/destructive

contents as they may seriously affect adolescent development and well-being.

Note

1. The sentence in the title used in direct speech is an adaptation of a posted testimonial taken from the

analysed blogs.

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About the authors

Teresa Sofia Castro (PhD student) is a Scholarship Researcher at the University of Minho(Portugal). She has a Master Degree in Child Studies – Information and CommunicationTechnology and a first degree in Philosophy and Humanities. She has been involved in aEuropean Research Project on Internet Safety. Her research interests are related to the useof internet by children and young people. Teresa Sofia Castro is the corresponding authorand can be contacted at: [email protected]

Antonio Jose Osorio PhD in Education. Experience on Initial and in-Service Teacher Training,as well as Master and PhD courses in the field of ICT. Very good research experience ofusing e-learning environments, and collaborative learning environments in the internet, goodexpertise in research with LOGO. Responsible for the co-ordination of several nationalprojects concerning the implementation of ICT and specially ‘‘Internet in Schools’’ in theBraga region.


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