This document outlines the structure and requirements for a research paper, including sections such as the introduction, literature review, proposed methodology, results, and discussion. It emphasizes proper citation practices in APA style and the importance of integrating diverse sources of literature relevant to the research topic. Additionally, it touches on the topic of abortion, highlighting the differences between safe and unsafe procedures, their implications for women's health, and the need for informed decision-making.

1. Running head: 50 CHARACTER VERSION OF TITLE IN CAPS
1
Title of Paper (up to 12 words)
Your Name, Including Middle Initial
School
50 CHARACTER VERSION OF TITLE IN CAPS 2
Abstract
A concise summary of each section of your paper, using up to
250 words. Note that you do not
indent the first line.
50 CHARACTER VERSION OF TITLE IN CAPS 3
Title of Paper

2. Your first paragraph (or two) should be an introduction to the
broad topic of your paper.
Many people write the introduction after writing the rest of the
paper! Information in your
introduction should provide a foundation for the hypotheses of
your experiment. In your
introduction, your goal is to convince readers that your research
topic is (a) interesting and (b)
important. You may choose to begin your paper with a story,
quotation, or relevant statistics
about your topic. You can think of your paper as a story about
your dependent variable.
You generally will present broad background information about
the topic in the first
paragraph of so. You will include at least two sections in the
body of your paper. You will
summarize relevant information from prior research studies in
the first section, which we refer to
as the “literature review” portion of a paper. You will present
your detailed research proposal in
the second section (details are provided below). Some overall
formatting rules to keep in mind
are: (a) use Times New Roman font, size 12; and (b) double-
space the entire paper.

3. Information about the Literature-review Section
Content. In the first section of your paper, you should provide
a literature review of prior
research and theory that relates to your experiment. The
information you present should be from
diverse sources (e.g., journal articles, book chapters, web sites).
Make sure it is clear to the
reader how information is related to your experimental
hypotheses or procedure. So, if you are
using their method, then talk about their method; if they found
similar results, talk about their
results; if they operationally defined their DV like you want to,
then talk about that, etc. To make
this section of your paper effective, you should explicitly relate
information from various sources
to each other and to your proposed research. After you discuss
past research, you should make it
50 CHARACTER VERSION OF TITLE IN CAPS 4
clear how your study is the next logical one, that your study
improves upon past studies, that
your study fills obvious holes left by the others.

4. Citation of sources. You should cite references throughout the
body of your paper.
There are two ways to cite a source. The authors can be listed in
the sentence, with the year in
parentheses: “The Davis (2001) web site presents information
about American Psychological
Association (APA) style rules.” Alternatively, the citation can
be entirely in parentheses: “The
web site presents information about American Psychological
Association (APA) style rules
(Davis, 2001).” These are the only two acceptable ways to cite
sources in APA style. When
citing a journal article, you should never include the title of the
paper or the first names or initials
of the authors.
There are additional important rules when sources have more
than one author. When
listing multiple authors in the text, write out the word “and”:
“Brown and Milstead (1968)
examined . .” When listing multiple authors in parentheses, use
the symbol “&” rather than the
word “and”: “The research findings were consistent with
hypotheses (Brown & Milstead,
1968).” Another important rule applies to sources with three or

5. more authors. The first time you
cite the article, list all three authors (e.g., Green, Campbell, &
Finkel, 2001); any subsequent
time you cite the article, list the first author followed by the
words “et al.” (e.g., Green et al.,
2001).
Citation rules become even more complex when it comes to
citing web sites. Web sites
often do not have authors or dates listed. If a web site has no
author listed, use the first few
words of the title in your citation: “APA style rules have
changed dramatically (“APA Guide,”
1999).” If the web site has no date listed, use the letters “n.d.”
in place of the year: “APA style
rules have changed dramatically (APA Guide, n.d.).”
50 CHARACTER VERSION OF TITLE IN CAPS 5
Almost all of the information in the literature-review portion of
your paper will be from
outside sources; it will be necessary to cite at least one source
in each paragraph. (The exception
to this rule would be if you are writing a “short” research
proposal and have been told by your

6. instructor that outside sources are not required.) You should be
selective in the information you
choose to include from each source. Avoid quoting information
from an article; it is rarely
necessary and is likely to disturb the flow of your paper. Also,
avoid including information from
a source that is not relevant to your experiment; it is
unnecessary to completely summarize all
articles that you cite. You may write only one sentence about
one article, but an entire paragraph
about another, more relevant article. It is possible that several
sources provide similar
information. If this is the case, then summarize the information
and cite multiple sources at once:
Research suggests there is a relationship between X and Y
(Davis, 2001; Davis & Rusbult, 2001;
Green et al., 2001). Note the format of this multiple-article
citation: articles are in alphabetical
order and are separated by semicolons.
Proposed Method
In the second section of your paper, you should provide details
about your proposed
experiment. It would be appropriate to label this section of

7. your paper “Proposed Research” or
“Method”, using the level of heading that was used for the title
of the paper. It is a good idea to
highlight the way in which your experiment will extend past
research; for example, you could
include a one sentence statement claiming that past research has
focused on _____, but left out
_____. The first paragraph or two of this section should include
your hypotheses and your
reasoning (theory). The next paragraphs should present
information about your research method.
It is likely that you will use subsections such as the ones that I
include below.
50 CHARACTER VERSION OF TITLE IN CAPS 6
Participants
You should include information about who the participants will
be in your experiment.
How many participants will be in your study? Summarize
whether you want a certain number of
men or women, a certain number of people from different races,
and so on. How will participants
be recruited for your study? Summarize whether you will place

8. ads in the newspaper, recruit in
online chat-rooms, ask for volunteers in class, and so on. Will
participants receive compensation
for being in your study?
Design
In this section, you should include information about your
independent variables: the
levels of each, whether they are between or within-participant,
and whether participants will be
randomly assigned to levels. If your experiment has more than
one independent variable, which
is likely, then include a design statement (e.g., This will be a 2
Time of Day (morning vs.
evening) x 2 Amount of Coffee (1 cup vs. 3 cups) between-
participants design”). Will
participants be randomly assigned to conditions? This section
will be very short!
Procedure
Include all of the details about what participants will
experience in your experiment.
You should include enough detail that someone could conduct
your experiment using your paper
as a guide. The order of this section should be the order of

9. activities that participants will
experience. You should use future tense throughout this
section. What will be the setting of the
experiment (where will it take place)? What questionnaires will
participants complete? Include
sample items (make them up if necessary). What instructions
will you give participants? Include
a short script if the wording is important to your procedure. If
you are using questionnaires or
50 CHARACTER VERSION OF TITLE IN CAPS 7
procedures that have been used in prior research, be sure to cite
the article(s) in this section. It
may be appropriate to include other subsections after this one as
well.
Results
In the Results section, you will summarize what are your
predicted results. Typically, you
also will explain the planned statistical analysis strategy. If you
include a figure at the end of the
paper it (e.g., your graph of expected results), be sure to refer to
it in the text (e.g., “please refer
to Figure 1”).

10. Discussion
In the Discussion section, you will broadly evaluate your
proposed experiment. What are
the strengths and limitations of your experiment? Are there
other ways to test the same
hypothesis? What future experiments might be important? Are
there any ethical concerns about
your procedure? You should touch back on ideas that you
mentioned in your introduction as
well.
50 CHARACTER VERSION OF TITLE IN CAPS 8
References
Byrne, D., & Nelson, D. (1965). Attraction as a linear function
of proportion of positive
reinforcements. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
1, 659-663.
Chou, L., McClintock, R., Moretti, F., & Nix, D. H. (1993).
Technology and education: New
wine in new bottles: Choosing pasts and imagining educational
futures. Retrieved August

11. 24, 2000, from
http://www.ilt.columbia.edu/publications/papers/newwine1.html
Heider, F. (1946). Attitudes and cognitive organization. Journal
of Psychology, 21, 107-112.
Kelley, H. H., & Thibaut, J. (1978). Interpersonal relations: A
theory of interdependence. New
York, NY: Wiley.
Rusbult, C. E., Martz, J. M., & Agnew, C. R. (1998). The
investment model scale: Measuring
commitment level, satisfaction level, quality of alternatives, and
investment size.
Personal Relationships, 5, 357-391.
Rusbult, C. E., Olson, N., Davis, J. L., & Hannon, M. A. (2001).
Commitment and relationship
maintenance mechanisms. In J. H. Harvey & A. Wenzel (Eds.),
Close relationships:
Maintenance and enhancement (pp. 87-113). Mahwah, NJ:
Erlbaum.
Note: Normally you include on your Reference page only
sources that are cited in your text. For
the sake of including a range of examples, I listed random
examples of references here.

12. Leonel Lubin
Research paper Structure
1. Cover page/Title page
2. Abstract
· It appears on page 2
· Length: 150-250 words
· One (1) paragraph; not indented
· Summary of all your paper!
· Keywords: entered immediately below the abstract text; 5
keywords
Structure of Abstract
Background on the problem:
Purpose/Objective of the study:
Method:
Interpretation of Result:
Conclusion & Recommendations for future
research:
Example:
Background: If you add both items (4403 and 4407) together,
we see a decrease, going from $47.6 million in 2015 to $41.4
million in 2016. Purpose: of the total exports of word, charcoal
and manufactured goods, 29.4% corresponds to lumber, 31.9%
to raw wood. Method: 33.1% to pallets, crates. Result: boxes
and the like. Conclusion: and 1.9% to tools. Recommendations:
brooms and other products.
Keywords: breast cancer, cancer treatment, care for breast
cancer, ……
3. Introduction:
· Hook

13. · Background information
· Problem Statement
· Research question
· Hypothesis/ Hypotheses
· Thesis statement
4. Literature Review
5. Research Method
· Identify the type of method, most probably meta-analysis
· Step-by-step process of your research
· Tools used & how you handled tools
6. Result (statistics, graphs, narrative explaining graphs, tables,
statistics) Please develop the results section.
7. Discussions: analyze/interpret/compare & contrast results
with initially projected hypothesis
8. Limitations & Implications (title, Keywords, method: time of
publication, language, full text, abstract, amount of studies you
had access to)
9. Conclusion: summary, how result was accomplished,
recommendations for future research
10. References: APA style; minimum 10 references
Note: 15% plagiarism maximum
RUNNING HEAD: HOW ABORTION AFFECTS WOMEN’S
HEALTH
HOW ABORTION AFFECTS WOMEN’S HEALTH 11

14. Title of Paper: How abortion affects women’s health
Student Name: Leonel Lubin
University
Course ID—Course Name
Module/Week x, Assignment x
Instructor Name
Date
How abortion affects women’s health
Abstract
Abortion is the expulsion of a fetus or embryo before it is
fully developed to survive outside the uterus. It can occur in
two different ways, which are, loss of the fetus naturally as a
spontaneous abortion (miscarriage) or deliberately as an
induced abortion (therapeutic abortion). The latter is a surgical
or medicinal procedure that terminated a pregnancy. Abortion as
a topic is extremely diverse and mostly controversial and not
everyone agrees that it is morally right. However, regardless of
abortion being a touchy topic, we have to accept that its reality
is not going away anytime soon and if anything, it is only going
to get broad as years and age advances. Therefore, being able to

15. recognize and not necessarily accept both sides can be highly
beneficial in the education of this diverse topic ("Reproduction:
Abortion," 2017).
Abortion is a practice that is carried out around the globe
and statistics state that about 56 million abortions are
performed each year around the world, with 45% being done
unsafely. Unsafe abortions are influenced by a number of issues
such as cultural and religious beliefs as well as abortion laws
which differ in states around the world. Practice of unsafe
abortion is performed by unskilled individuals, with hazardous
equipment or even in unsanitary facilities increasing the risk of
repercussions involved for women undergoing abortions. About
47,000 deaths and 5 million hospital admissions occur every
year as a result of unsafe abortion. This unfortunate cases
happen despite having modern methods of abortion that involve
the use of medication or surgery.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends safe and
legal abortions be made available to all women as way of
reducing the dire consequences be it instant, short term or long
term on women that result from most abortion procedures.
Diversity in abortion is vital and beneficial to a woman who is
contemplating abortion, since by recognizing all aspects of her
decision, she can make a sound decision and will be less likely
to regret her option in case the repercussions come in heavy.
Introduction
Abortion, whether safely or unsafely performed can endanger a
woman’s physical, reproductive and even mental health. In
addition, it can lead to serious life threatening complications.
On the brighter side, safely done procedures reduce the risk of
complicated effects on women after performance of abortion.
Women are advised to have their pregnancies terminated in
hospitals or licensed clinics. However, in most African
countries, abortion is still unauthorized and unsafe. Women,
including adolescents having unwanted pregnancies, turn to
unsafe abortion when they cannot access safe abortion as most
times it is illegal. Historically abortion practices mainly

16. included unsafe means such as, attempts using herbal medicines,
using sharp tools and even forceful massages. Some cultures
took the procedure to extreme levels by attempting to induce
abortion through physical means such as, battery, high intensity
exercise as well as tightening the girdle. A few of this ancient
methods of abortion and more are still used in the modern world
especially in developing nations. The extremes measures taken
back then and now are an obvious cause of severe risks and
complications of abortion with death being the main and almost
immediate consequence ("effects of abortion work," 2019).
Most abortions are done during the first 12weeks of pregnancy
(first trimester). In some states where abortion is legal, abortion
is allowed until the 24th week (end of second trimester), but
others prohibit it after week 20. Third-trimester abortions are
not encouraged unless in a necessary situation such as when the
mother’s or the baby’s life is in danger. Procedures after the
first trimester are referred to as late term abortion, since at this
duration the fetus has the potential to survive outside the womb.
There are two main types of abortion; medical abortion and
surgical abortion. The almost immediate and obvious
explanation that women often give for seeking induced abortion
is that the pregnancy was either unplanned or unwanted.
However, there have not been a full exploration on the other
reasons and explanations like the myriad social, economic and
health circumstances. Despite all the reasons and justification
given on abortion, it goes without saying that women’s health is
at stake as a result of abortions. Therefore, how does abortion
affect women’s health?
Literature Review
Surgical abortion. This is one of the two main methods of
abortion. In this mode there is a mode of pain management in
which a woman is advised at the clinic on the types of
anesthetic offered. They include, general anesthetic where one
is completely unconscious. This mode comes with the danger of
chocking if fasting is not properly undertaken beforehand.
Nitrous oxide gas (similar gas) that puts one in a state of

17. ‘twilight sleep’ in that you relaxed but sedated and awake.
Local anesthetic in which the cervix area is injected with
anesthetic to numb it so that you don’t feel anything during the
procedure and local anesthetic with intravenous sedation where
sedative medication is put into your vein using an intravenous
line and local anesthetic injected directly into the cervix. The
procedure is then done using ‘suction (vacuum) aspiration and
is only done on women in their first trimester. It involves the
widening of the cervix opening using rods of increasing size
followed by a slim tube inserted into the uterus. The fetus and
placenta is then withdrawn with gentle suction. A curette is
finally used to check if the uterus is empty. The procedure can
take less than 15 minutes.
Dilation and Evacuation (D&E) is the surgical procedure
done for pregnancies after week 12. Forceps In this case a pair
of forceps is used. The cervix is dilated for several hours or up
to a day then conscious sedation or general anesthetic is
introduced before the procedure. In both cases there are
immediate side effects which include stomach cramps and
vaginal bleeding of about 1 to 2 weeks. However, light bleeding
can be experienced up to a month after the procedure.
It is correct to say that in most occasions the effects of
abortion on the health of a woman are dire. Infection in the
womb is one of the major health complications that may occur
24hours after an abortion procedure. In the case that the
infection isn’t treated promptly, it could spread to the fallopian
tubes and ovaries a condition known as pelvic inflammatory
disease (PID), which can increase the risk of infertility or
ectopic pregnancy (the egg implants itself outside the
womb).Several abortions done on a woman has an increased risk
of giving birth prematurely, especially in future pregnancies
("Reproduction: Abortion," 2017).
Asherman’s syndrome is a condition in which a scar tissue
grows in the uterus as a result of a surgical abortion. This
condition can lead to abnormal, absent or painful menstrual
cycles, future miscarriages and also infertility. Cases of

18. puncture of the wall of the uterus have been reported. This
happens when a medical instrument cuts through the walls of
the uterus during suction abortion procedures and in the worst
case scenario, surgical removal of the uterus (hysterectomy) has
to be done as repair. Severe hemorrhaging that is unlike some
bleeding which is typical after an abortion and can lead to quick
death. Other possible side effects on a woman after abortion
include, cervical laceration (cut or torn cervix) which leads to
incompetent cervix in a subsequent pregnancy, placenta
problems like retained placenta, low birth weight in future
pregnancies and even injury to the bowel or the bladder.
Complications from anesthesia like nausea, vomiting, headaches
and respiratory problems may occur. Studies also confirm that
breast cancer is a possible effect in the future after an abortion.
Pro-choice researches came to the conclusion that a lot of
women have difficulty in coping in life after abortion. This is
mainly as a result of the effects that abortion is said to have on
a woman’s mental/psychological health. For instance, severe
psychological trauma can and does happen. Feelings of guilt
may lead to uncertainty on their initial decision to terminate the
pregnancy may lead to depression or more serious grief
responses. In some cases post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
and researchers have previously confirmed that post-abortion
syndrome results in PTSD. Symptoms in a victim may include
depression, guilt, anger, social and sexual dysfunction and even
shame.
Method
The method used in this review is the careful examination of
literature reviews on abortion and health effects from published
articles from the early 90’s to date. The intention of this review
is to be more than an academic discussion, such that a better
understanding of the underlying issue in abortion and the health
effects associated with it are brought to light. Conclusions in
this review are drawn from an extensive study from the
references cited so as to further the comprehension of health
effects that result from abortion procedures. A study in the

19. article named Abortion Worldwide brings out a comprehensive
examination of laws that regulate abortion, how they have
evolved over the years, the barriers women face to secure
abortions as well as the impacts of unsafe abortion on women’s
health. The World Health Organization having played a major
role in health matters especially abortion in this case turned out
to be a great study that provides detailed and compressive
information including estimates from research done in figures
("Abortion," 2017).
Results
Worldwide, 25million unsafe abortions which is 45% of all
abortions occur every year. This is according to a study WHO
for the period 2010 to 2014, with 97% occurring in developing
countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. In 2008, a report
by American Psychological Association (APA) came to the
conclusion that, some women experience clinically significant
disorders, including depression, anxiety, sadness and grief
following the termination of a pregnancy. Medical abortions are
the most common followed by surgical abortions. The
complications are registered of all abortions were mostly for
registered patients past week 12 of pregnancy, with incomplete
abortion being the leading complication related to medical
abortions. In Sweden, induced abortion is the most common
gynecological procedure. In Finland, the rate of complications
related to medical abortions were investigated, and of the
24,006 adult participants who underwent medical abortion,,
15.4% were later diagnosed with bleeding, 2% experienced
infection, 10.2% experienced an incomplete abortion, and 13%
had to proceed with a vacuum curettage (Tietze, 2017).
Abortion related infections are often caused by ascending
bacterial infection like chlamydia that moves from the lower
genitals and proceeds to the uterus via the cervix and can spread
to the fallopian tube causing infertility. WHO recommend the
use of an antibiotic called prophylaxis to treat infectious

20. complications resulting from abortions. Antibiotic treatment
should be administered in the case that an infection is traced
which could be before, during or after an abortion. Bleeding is
part of the normal process of abortion. However, heavy bleeding
lasting longer than 12 hours is a bleeding complication and
medical advice should be sought. Different women have
different reasons for contemplating abortion with the main
reason being the pregnancy being unplanned for.
Discussion
The aim of this study was to investigate ways in which
abortion complicates women’s health around the globe. The
main finding that was statistically significant was that most
complications result from complications after unsafe as well as
medical abortions after the first trimester. Despite the
complications associated with abortion decreasing over the
years, the battle is far from over especially in developing
countries, most of which have not legalized abortion. It is safe
to say that, legalizing abortion is a step in the right direction for
reduced number of complications related to abortions in the
future.
Women interested in procuring an abortion should visit
hospitals or licensed clinics and have appointments made for
several days before the procedure is done. The necessity of
having appointments is so as to discuss the reasons for
considering abortion as the way out. One needs to be sure so as
to make a sound decision and a counsellor may come in handy.
It is also important so as to review the medical options
available, their associated risks and complications. An
ultrasound during this time is needed so as to know how many
weeks pregnant a woman is so as to make the opted method
identifiable. The clinical appointments prior to the abortion
procedure are also necessary so as to test for possible STIs,
blood type and low iron levels (anemia) and finally sign a
consent form then have a date set for the procedure (Awoyemi
& Novignon, 2018).
The reasons that women give for contemplating abortions

21. are broad and diverse. Pregnancies being unwanted or
unplanned for is one of the main reasons. It is not always that
family planning methods work and in the case that they do not
and one ends up pregnant, it is possible to consider terminating
that ‘unwanted pregnancy’. Pregnancy as a result of crime such
as rape, incest and even child abuse is a commonly noted reason
for the need to terminate a pregnancy. In addition, other causes
of abortion are social for instance, poverty. An expectant
woman may argue that she does not have the ability to raise the
expected child because of financial incapability bearing in mind
that raising a child is a great and at times costly responsibility
thus the need for an abortion. The inability to cope with a child
or another child as well as the argument that one is too young to
cope with parenting are more social reasons given for abortion.
In some serious cases, some nations have a strict government
policy about regulation of population in terms of size as well as
given groups within a population and also improving the
population status leading to abortions so as to fit by the law
requirements.
In the case of unacceptable quality of life like serious
handicaps, serious genetic problems and serious mental defects
abortion may also be considered.
Limitations
In developing countries, inadequacy of funds to support the
health sectors is one of the main issues. In this case especially,
tackling abortion complications is an issue as most times there
is not only the lack of funds in general, but also inadequacy of
proper technology to carry out abortion related procedures.
Governments all over the world have played a huge role in the
deaths and casualties resulting from abortion. This is because,
in the states where the procedure is legalized, the laws that
govern it are not strictly followed. In addition, in the states
where abortion is not legal, there are no strict polies for those
unlicensed practitioners that carry out abortions and this
increases the risk of complications that result from abortion

22. ("effects of abortion work," 2019).
Religion has played a huge role in abortion majorly
condemning and excommunicating those who go about the
practice as well as those who get pregnant at the ‘wrong time’.
Conclusion
It is correct to conclude that women have difficulty coping
in life after an abortion. It is normal for a woman to feel a range
of emotions after an abortion but according to study of women
who’ve had an abortion, the vast majority did not make the right
decision. The risk of mental health problems in those who’ve
had an abortion is no greater than those who attempted to obtain
an abortion but gave birth.
Psychological and physical effects of abortion should be
taken into consideration and discussed more openly within
educational institutions as well as through the media. This will
w=enable women to be more aware of the potential risks they
are taking. Overall effects brought about by increase in
knowledge for women might decrease the number of abortions
as it will lead to informed decision making (Tietze & Lincoln,
2016).
Abortion should be legalized and the laws governing it be
strictly looked into such that in the necessary case of an
abortion, women can get proper medical attention reducing the
risk of complications that result from abortions. Moreover, in
the states where abortion is already legal, it is important that
the governments in those states provide affordable medical
services so that botched procedures cannot be sought with the
excuse that they cannot be afforded.
Education on the use of family planning methods is vital
and should be made affordable and accessible all over the world
as a way to curb unwanted pregnancies that result in abortion.
Medication such as antibiotics should come in handy so as to
curd deaths or infection related complications.

23. References
Abortion. (2017). Women Studies Abstracts, 34(4), 56-56.
doi:10.1007/s12118-005-1099-9
Awoyemi, B. O., & Novignon, J. (2018). Demand for abortion
and post abortion care in Ibadan, Nigeria. Health Economics
Review, 4(1). doi:10.1186/s13561-014-0003-9
The effects of abortion work. (2019). Pregnancy and abortion
counselling, 165-186. doi:10.4324/9780203360125_chapter_9
Reproduction: Abortion. (2017). Encyclopedia of Women &
Islamic Cultures. doi:10.1163/1872-5309_ewic_ewiccom_0187
Tietze, C. (2017). The Public Health Effects of Legal Abortion
in the United States. Family Planning Perspectives, 16(1), 26.
doi:10.2307/2135120
Tietze, S. L., & Lincoln, R. (2016). The Public Health Effects
of Legal Abortion in the United States. Fertility Regulation and
the Public Health, 142-145. doi:10.1007/978-1-4612-4702-9_15
Barbara Pina
Dr. Hackett
University of Houston Downtown
Psy 3320
03/05/2020

24. Annotated bibliography; the relationship between social media
and unhealthy eating habits
Neter, E. & Melaman, B. ( ).The relationship between social
media and unhealthy eating habits, Ruppin Academic Center.
Retrieved from
https://clinicaltrials.gov/ProvidedDocs/63/NCT03731663/Prot_S
AP_000.pdf
The paper examines the impact of social media use on eating
habits. It uses a controlled study method to test its hypothesis
that viewing appetizing food pictures results to higher rate of
food consumption. The paper conducted and online survey
among 165 participants. The paper found significant
relationship between social media food preoccupation and
disordered eating. Social media also affected food craving and
the size of ordered food in the menu. The paper therefore
supports previous findings that associate social media to
unhealthy eating habits.
Holmberg, C. (2017) Adolescents' Food Communication in
Social Media - A Theoretical Inquiry of the Why and How,
Retried from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/313903649_Adolescen
ts'_Food_Communication_in_Social_Media_-
_A_Theoretical_Inquiry_of_the_Why_and_How
The article uncovers the interwoven and complex relationship

25. between social media and eating habits among youths from a
health communication perspective. The paper draws insights
from previous empirical studies as well as relevant literature on
the topic. After thorough review of literature, the paper
concludes that sharing of food content in social media as typical
among youths have both positive and negative effect on their
health. This phenomenon is possible because visual food
messages have been linked to psychological effects on human
brain which in turn affect appetite and dietary behaviors. The
author of the article argues that social media is ubiquitous to
the lives of young people.
Qutteina, Y. & Nasrallah, C. (2019) Relationship between social
media use and disordered eating behavior among female
university students in Qatar, journal of health and social
sciences.
This thesis paper examined the relationship between social
media use and disordered eating habits among young Arabian
women. It uses a cross -sectional study method to assess media
usage particularly the use of snapchat, twitter and Facebook
among 1400 undergraduate Arab women to determine how usage
of popular platforms impact their eating habits. The paper’s
findings indicated that increased use of social media platforms
increases disordered eating. Among the social media platforms
tested, Instagram registered the highest association with
disordered eating. The article is important in highlighting the
role social media plays in impacting the lives of young people.
Coyne, S. M., Padilla-Walker, L. M., & Howard, E. (2013).
Emerging in a Digital World: A Decade Review of Media Use,
Effects, and Gratifications in Emerging Adulthood, available at
https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696813479782
The article published by the sage journals reviews literatures
that pertain to the use, effect and gratification of social media
in the lives of young adults. The paper specifically examines
new social media platforms such as tweeter and Instagram. The
paper concludes that exposure to food content in social media
have a negative impact on youth eating habits. The paper

26. assumes that food shared in social media are mostly fast foods
with negative health impacts.
Hoogstins, E.S. (2017) Modelling on Social Media: Influencing
Young Adults’ Food Choices. Lunds Universitet Retrieved from
http://lup.lub.lu.se/luur/download?func=downloadFile&recordO
Id=8925466&fileOId=8925467
The study investigates whether social media have influence on
adult’s food choices though social modelling. The study
conducted an online survey that involved exposing participants
to a series of food visuals. The result of the study showed that
there is no significant relationship between social media use and
the attitude and consumption habit among adults.