The Role of Religion, Spirituality and Social Media in the Journey of Eating Disorders: A Qualitative Exploration of Participants in the “TastelifeUK” Eating Disorder Recovery Programme

Barbara Mitra; Diana Archer; Joanne Hurst; Deborah Lycett

doi:10.1007/s10943-023-01861-0

The Role of Religion, Spirituality and Social Media in the Journey of Eating Disorders: A Qualitative Exploration of Participants in the “TastelifeUK” Eating Disorder Recovery Programme

Barbara Mitra
, Diana Archer
, Joanne Hurst
, Deborah Lycett

Research Division

University of Worcester
Tastelife

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)

201 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

This study explores the religious and spiritual aspects of eating disorder recovery and the role of social media in the context of a third sector community-based recovery group in the UK. Four online focus groups explored participant perspectives (17 participants in total) using thematic analysis. The qualitative findings highlight that relational support from God is important in eating disorder recovery and coping, although this can be challenged by spiritual struggles and tensions. Relational support from people is also relevant where it offers a place to share different experiences together giving a sense of community belonging. Social media was also found to be important in relation to eating disorders, either providing a community of support or exacerbating existing issues. This study suggests that the role of religion and social media should be acknowledged where it is important for that individual in relation to eating disorder recovery.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	4451-4477
Number of pages	27
Journal	Journal of Religion and Health
Volume	62
Issue number	6
Early online date	9 Jul 2023
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-023-01861-0
Publication status	Published - Dec 2023

Bibliographical note

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Keywords

Anorexia nervosa
Body image
Bulimia nervosa
Eating disorders
Faith
Media
Qualitative study
Religion
Social media
Spiritual struggles

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Nursing
Religious studies

Access to Document

10.1007/s10943-023-01861-0

PublishedFinal published version, 1.58 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

The Role of Religion, Spirituality and Social Media in the Journey of Eating Disorders: A Qualitative Exploration of Participants in the “TastelifeUK” Eating Disorder Recovery Programme. / Mitra, Barbara; Archer, Diana; Hurst, Joanne et al.
In: Journal of Religion and Health, Vol. 62, No. 6, 12.2023, p. 4451-4477.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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abstract = "This study explores the religious and spiritual aspects of eating disorder recovery and the role of social media in the context of a third sector community-based recovery group in the UK. Four online focus groups explored participant perspectives (17 participants in total) using thematic analysis. The qualitative findings highlight that relational support from God is important in eating disorder recovery and coping, although this can be challenged by spiritual struggles and tensions. Relational support from people is also relevant where it offers a place to share different experiences together giving a sense of community belonging. Social media was also found to be important in relation to eating disorders, either providing a community of support or exacerbating existing issues. This study suggests that the role of religion and social media should be acknowledged where it is important for that individual in relation to eating disorder recovery.",

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The Role of Religion, Spirituality and Social Media in the Journey of Eating Disorders: A Qualitative Exploration of Participants in the “TastelifeUK” Eating Disorder Recovery Programme

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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