Are recovery stories helpful for women with eating disorders? A pilot study and commentary on future research

Abstract

BackgroundAnecdotally it is well known that eating disorder memoirs are popular with people with anorexia nervosa and recovery stories are readily available online. However, no research to date has empirically explored whether such stories are helpful for current sufferers. The aim of the current pilot study was to explore the efficacy of recovery narratives as a means of improving motivation and self-efficacy and to qualitatively explore patient perspectives of such stories.MethodFifty-seven women with anorexia nervosa and subclinical anorexia nervosa participated in this online study. Participants were randomised to either receive recovery stories or to a wait-list control group. After completing baseline measures, participants read five stories about recovery, and completed post-intervention measures two weeks later.ResultsThe quantitative results indicated that reading stories of recovery had no effect on motivation and self-efficacy over a two-week period. In contrast, the qualitative results showed that the stories generated thoughts about the possibility of recovery and the majority indicated they would recommend them to others.ConclusionsThis study adds to a growing body of research exploring the integration of voices of lived experience into treatment approaches. Future research should focus on 1) identifying for whom and at which stage of illness recovery stories might be helpful; 2) the mechanism via which they might operate; and 3) the most helpful way of presenting such stories.

Facilitators and barriers in anorexia nervosa treatment initiation: a qualitative study on the perspectives of patients, carers and professionals

“…To our knowledge, this factor has not been mentioned in any previous study. In line with this finding, it was pointed out that there is little research on the sharing of lived experience despite its relevance in the consumer community [ 33 ]. In general, positive and negative effects of these ‘interventions’ are to be expected [ 34 , 35 ], but research has long focused almost exclusively on the negative consequences associated with pro-Ana websites [ 34 – 36 ].…”

“…Their effects in terms of earlier treatment initiation have not been studied, but the potential active ingredients of recovery-oriented narratives reported in the literature overlap strongly with the statements of our interview partners. These include increases in treatment motivation, hope, knowledge (insider information), and decreases in fear and stigma [ 33 , 38 , 39 ]. Potential risks could include overestimation of treatment effects [ 39 ] and maladaptive social comparisons (peer contagion effect) [ 40 , 41 ].…”

From prevention to peer support: a systematic review exploring the involvement of lived-experience in eating disorder interventions

“…For the five studies which included qualitative data, three studies scored “8” out of a possible 10 (Adamson et al , 2019; Beveridge et al , 2019; Ramjan et al , 2018) with one study scoring “7” (Denison-Day et al , 2019) and another scoring “6” (Dawson et al , 2018). The most common reasons for deducting marks were because of researchers not “locating themselves culturally or theoretically” as well as not addressing “the influence of the research on the researcher and vice versa,” as well as researchers not adequately including the voices of their participants in the reports (Dawson et al , 2018; Denison-Day et al , 2019).…”

A randomised clinical trial to evaluate the acceptability and efficacy of an early phase, online, guided augmentation of outpatient care for adults with anorexia nervosa

“…Alternatively, recent findings suggest that exposure to recovery narratives may not directly increase motivation to change, or could evoke positive as well as negative (e.g. social comparative) responses, thus highlighting the need for further assessment of underlying mechanisms for recovery narratives and alternative strategies for presentation of these stories (Dawson et al ., 2018). It is also possible that the format of our intervention failed to optimise reflection and adoption of a recovery identity through increasing social support.…”