What Makes Recovery Messages Helpful? Exploring Patient Perceptions and Behaviour Change Components in Motivational Videos for Eating Disorders

This thesis investigated how patients with eating disorders perceive recovery narratives, defined as personal stories of individuals who have experienced and overcome mental health difficulties. These narratives are increasingly recognized as valuable resources to increase hope and motivation, but there is limited research regarding how patients perceive them and which are their active components. The study focused on five outcome variables (perceived usefulness, learning, relatability, relevance, and credibility) and systematically isolated behavior change techniques (BCTs) using the Behavior Change Technique Taxonomy v1 (Michie et al., 2013). Twenty-six recovery narrative videos were presented during motivational groups at the Regional Center for Eating Disorders in Padua, and 58 female patients with anorexia nervosa rated them through self-report questionnaires. Videos were coded for BCTs by three trained coders, and data were analyzed using linear mixed-effects models in R. Results suggested that narratives were perceived as highly credible and relatable, but had lower scores for usefulness, learning, and relevance. Narratives that included multiple BCTs and emphasized social support, identity reconstruction, and behavioral strategies received more positive evaluations, while prescriptive or “turning point” narratives received lower scores. Overall, the findings highlight the potential of recovery narratives to foster motivation in clinical practice.