Eating disorder diagnoses (ED) are rising at an alarming rate globally, related to threats about achieving and maintaining social status, especially in adolescents and young adults. University students, often young adults with social mobility in mind, attempt to improve their socio-economic status with higher vocational or academic study. Young adults are most susceptible to potential harms caused by social media and are likely to experience greater anxiety and perceived threats that alter cognitive processes and increase the risk of developing an ED. This pilot study aimed to examine whether threat perceptions, anxiety and disordered eating in a non-clinical sample were linked to cognitive biases for food and threat words. Fifty university students, between the ages of 18-25 (19 male) completed online versions of the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDEQ), Eating Disorders Inventory (EDI), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and a Threat Perception Questionnaire (TPQ) created by the authors. All measures