what are the ethical considerations and limitations of this study below??

"Participants

This study will recruit an eligible sample of Australian women aged between 40 to 65, that are competent English speakers and have used Instagram. A feasible sample size of approximately 250 women will be recircuited, which is similar to studies analysed for the development of this proposed study such asAparicio-Martinez et al. (2019), Murray et al. (2016) and Cohen et al. (2019), increasing comparability. Participates will be volunteersrecruited via advertising on social media, posters advertising the study throughout the University and was also advertised on the University's volunteer for research webpage.

Instagram Posts

Participants will view a social media feed of artificially created posts that simulate Instagram posts based on body image and general Instagram content analyses. A pilot testing study will be conducted with a small sample of 20 women over the age of 40. This study will involve evaluating content validity and authenticity of the artificially created posts for the proposed study. Participants will be asked to indicate the degree in which the posts appear to be an item that would be seen on Instagram, measured using a 5-point Likert scale, where 0 = very unlikely to 5 = very likely.

The proposed study involves 4 sample groups (short-term control group and short-term experimental group; long-term control group and long-term experimental group). The control groups will view simulated posts unrelated to body image, illustrating popular Instagram content, such as, food, home dcor, travel and nature. The short-term control group will view 10 simulated posts, while the long-term control group will view 30 simulated posts. In the experimental conditions participants will view posts depicting predominantly negative body image content. Participants in the short-term experimental condition will view 10 simulated posts, with 5 posts depicting negative body image content and 5 neutral posts. Similarly, participants in the long-term experimental condition will view 30 simulated posts, with 15 posts depicting negative body image content and 15 neutral posts. The Instagram feed posts will be randomised for each participant, with posts being viewed for at least 10 seconds each. The number of posts for the short-term conditions was chosen to be analogous toCohen et al. (2019), who used 10 posts.

Measures

Demographic

Demographic information will be collected from participants including their current age, gender identity, race, ethnicity, and height and weight via the self-reported survey post experiment.

Eating Behaviour Attitudes

The psychometric measure Eating Attitudes Tests (EAT-26)is a 26-item self-reported measure of eating attitudes that measures symptoms and concerns of eating disorders.EAT-26 measure was chosen as it has good test-retest reliability(r=.84), internal consistency (=.90) (McLean et al, 2023). This measure is rated along a 6-point Likert scale, ranging from alwaysto never. The number of responses associated with frequency will indicate negative attitudes.

Body dissatisfaction

The Body Appreciation Scale (BAS) is a 13-item self-report measure, which quantifies participants' acceptance of and favourable opinions towards their bodies. The BAS shows a high internal consistency of(=.93), with otherbody image and social media studies utilising the scale (Cohen et al, 2019)(Sanzari et al, 2023). Items are measured on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = neverto 5 = always). Sample items include: "I feel good about my body", "I take a positive attitude towards my body." Higher scores indicate higher positive body image. Item responses are summed, resulting in scores between 5 to 50 (Zarate et al, 2021).

Social norms

Social norms was measured by The Appearance Evaluation (AE) subscale of the Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire-Appearance Scales (MBSRQ) which measures self-perception and stereotypes. Participants rate the extent to which they agree with seven statements (e.g., "Most people would consider me good-looking") on a five-point scale (1 = disagree, 5 = agree) with lower scores indicating lower self-perception and stereotypes. This scale was used byAparicio-Martinez et al. (2019), whichfound that exposure to social norms promoting dieting for the ideal body type encourages social enhancement of societies preference of appearance, weight stigma and conformity.

Procedure

Before partaking in the experiment, participants were provided information detailing the study, and a consent form in line withthe National Health and Medical Research Council (2018) guidelines.

Following consent, participants will receive a link to the experiment through the online survey platform, SurveyMonkey. Participants will be randomly assigned into either 4 conditions(short-term control group and short-term experimental group; long-term control group and long-term experimental group). All Participants will view a social media feed of posts corresponding to their participant condition and will be instructed to view each post for at least 10 seconds to simulate the scrolling pattern of Instagram.

After conducting the experiment, participants will be asked to complete self-report survey on the scales (Eat-26, BAS and AE). Once the study is completed, participants will be provided with mental health helplines and informed that the posts were artificially created and were not posted by real Instagram users. Analyses of reported responses will be conducted to assess condition group mean differences. The survey will be confidential, anonymous.