Recovery stories - helpful or unhelpful? A randomised controlled trial

Low motivation to change and low self-efficacy have been associated with poorer outcome in anorexia nervosa (AN). There is evidence to suggest that sharing personal accounts of successful recovery with patients might improve motivation as well as helplessness and hopelessness associated with recover...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Dawson, L., Rhodes, P., Mullan, Barbara, Miskovic, J., Touyz, S.
Format: Journal Article
Published: BioMed Central 2014
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/56794
_version_ 1848759940476305408
author Dawson, L.
Rhodes, P.
Mullan, Barbara
Miskovic, J.
Touyz, S.
author_facet Dawson, L.
Rhodes, P.
Mullan, Barbara
Miskovic, J.
Touyz, S.
author_sort Dawson, L.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Low motivation to change and low self-efficacy have been associated with poorer outcome in anorexia nervosa (AN). There is evidence to suggest that sharing personal accounts of successful recovery with patients might improve motivation as well as helplessness and hopelessness associated with recovery, providing an important resource for sufferers. However, no research to date has explored the helpfulness or unhelpfulness of recovery narratives, despite many patients accessing such stories. The aim of the current study was to determine the efficacy of recovery narratives as a means of improving motivation and self-efficacy, using a randomised controlled trial design. The primary outcome variable was change in motivation as measured by intentions to recover from AN and stage of change. More than fifty individuals with AN and subclinical AN participated in this online study. Participants were randomised to either receive recovery stories or to a wait-list controlled group. After completing base-line measures, participants read five short stories about recovery from AN, and completed post-intervention measures two weeks later. Preliminary findings revealed that participants self-reported varying levels of usefulness. Full results regarding the effectiveness of the intervention as a means of improving motivation and self-efficacy are presented and clinical and research implications discussed.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T10:07:52Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-56794
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T10:07:52Z
publishDate 2014
publisher BioMed Central
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-567942017-10-02T03:49:16Z Recovery stories - helpful or unhelpful? A randomised controlled trial Dawson, L. Rhodes, P. Mullan, Barbara Miskovic, J. Touyz, S. Low motivation to change and low self-efficacy have been associated with poorer outcome in anorexia nervosa (AN). There is evidence to suggest that sharing personal accounts of successful recovery with patients might improve motivation as well as helplessness and hopelessness associated with recovery, providing an important resource for sufferers. However, no research to date has explored the helpfulness or unhelpfulness of recovery narratives, despite many patients accessing such stories. The aim of the current study was to determine the efficacy of recovery narratives as a means of improving motivation and self-efficacy, using a randomised controlled trial design. The primary outcome variable was change in motivation as measured by intentions to recover from AN and stage of change. More than fifty individuals with AN and subclinical AN participated in this online study. Participants were randomised to either receive recovery stories or to a wait-list controlled group. After completing base-line measures, participants read five short stories about recovery from AN, and completed post-intervention measures two weeks later. Preliminary findings revealed that participants self-reported varying levels of usefulness. Full results regarding the effectiveness of the intervention as a means of improving motivation and self-efficacy are presented and clinical and research implications discussed. 2014 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/56794 10.1186/2050-2974-2-S1-O50 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ BioMed Central fulltext
spellingShingle Dawson, L.
Rhodes, P.
Mullan, Barbara
Miskovic, J.
Touyz, S.
Recovery stories - helpful or unhelpful? A randomised controlled trial
title Recovery stories - helpful or unhelpful? A randomised controlled trial
title_full Recovery stories - helpful or unhelpful? A randomised controlled trial
title_fullStr Recovery stories - helpful or unhelpful? A randomised controlled trial
title_full_unstemmed Recovery stories - helpful or unhelpful? A randomised controlled trial
title_short Recovery stories - helpful or unhelpful? A randomised controlled trial
title_sort recovery stories - helpful or unhelpful? a randomised controlled trial
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/56794