The personal meaning of eating disorder symptoms: an interpretative phenomenological analysis.
The current study aimed to explore the personal meaning of eating difficulties. Eight women with a variety of eating issues were interviewed. These conversations were then analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to construct a framework for understanding the personal world of the interviewees. Three overarching themes identified in participants' accounts of their experiences are reported here: the experience of the eating difficulties as functional; negative effects of having eating difficulties; ambivalence towards the eating difficulties. These themes add to our knowledge of the potential role of personal experiences in the aetiology and maintenance of eating difficulties.
Fox
Andrew P
AP
University of Birmingham, UK & Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, UK. Andrew.Fox@bsmhft.nhs.uk
Larkin
Michael
M
Leung
Newman
N
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005195:Family Relations; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D055815:Young Adult