Dr. Melanie Zimmer-Gembeck and the Zlab
Publications
Digital / Social Media
see the list below
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Seeto, C. J., Uhlmann, L. R., Zimmer-Gembeck, M. J., & Donovan, C. L. (2026). Vulnerability to appearance-based social media use and preoccupation: A model of young women’s appearance values, depression, and self-esteem via uses and gratification. Body Image, 56, 102034. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2026.102034
Click here to download the paper.
Zimmer-Gembeck, M. J., Seekis, V., & Duffy, A. L. (2026). Online appearance preoccupation in and beyond adolescence: A longitudinal study of social media use, anxiety, and depression as correlates of stability and change. Psychology of Popular Media, 15(1), 11-21. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000587.
Click here to download the paper.
Ryan, K. M., Zimmer-Gembeck, M. J., Stuart, J., Soenens, B., Zimmermann, G., & Van Petegem, S. (2026). Overprotective parenting: Examining pressures to be perfect, social media comparisons, world instability, and parent anxiety. Family Relations. https://doi.org/10.1111/fare.70150
Click here to download the paper.
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Scott, R. A., Zimmer-Gembeck, M. J., Gardner, A. A., Hawes, T., Modecki, K. L., Duffy, A. L., Farrell, L. J., & Waters, A. M. (2024). Daily use of digital technologies to feel better: Adolescents’ digital emotion regulation, emotions, loneliness, and recovery, considering prior emotional problems. Journal of Adolescence, 96(3), 539-550. https://doi.org/10.1002/jad.12259
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Zimmer-Gembeck, M. J., Scott, R. A., & Hawes, T. (2024). Appearance-related teasing, rejection sensitivity, acceptance, and coping as risks and resources associated with online appearance preoccupation over one year. Computers in Human Behavior. 158, Article 108319. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2024.108319
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Zimmer-Gembeck, M. J., Hawes, T., Scott, R. A., Campbell, T., & Webb, H. J. (2023). Adolescents’ online appearance preoccupation: A 5-year longitudinal study of the influence of peers, parents, beliefs, and disordered eating. Computers in Human Behavior, 140, 187569. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2022.107569
Zimmer-Gembeck, M. J., Rudolph, J., Webb, H. J., Henderson, L., & Hawes, T. (2021). Face-to-face and cyber-victimization: A longitudinal study of offline appearance anxiety and online appearance preoccupation. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 50(12), 2311–2323. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-020-01367-y
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Zimmer-Gembeck, M. J., Hawes, T., & Pariz, J. (2021). A closer look at appearance and social media: Measuring activity, self-presentation, and social comparison and their associations with emotional adjustment. Psychology of Popular Media, 10(1), 74-86. https://doi.org/.1037/ppm0000277
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Hawes, T., Campbell, S. M., & Zimmer-Gembeck, M. J. (2020). Unique associations of social media use and online appearance preoccupation with depression, anxiety, and appearance rejection sensitivity. Body Image:, 33, 66-76. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2020.02.010
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Webb, H. J., Zimmer-Gembeck, M. J., Farrell, L., Waters, A., Nesdale, D., & Downey, G. (2017) "Pretty pressure" from peers, parents, and the media: A longitudinal study of appearance-based rejection sensitivity. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 27, 718-735. doi:10.1111/jora.12310
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