Thematic analysis of mechanisms underpinning email peer support for young people with eating disorders
The Journal of Mental Health Training, Education and Practice
ISSN: 1755-6228
Article publication date: 6 September 2021
Issue publication date: 3 January 2022
Abstract
Purpose
Peer support, such as mentorship and befriending, has been found to have a valuable impact on a range of outcomes. There are multiple formats, including face-to-face (individually and group), and in online forums. Advancement in technology has enabled online peer support to increase in popularity; however, little is known about mechanisms underpinning individual one to one online peer interactions. The purpose of this paper is to qualitatively explore the mechanisms underpinning email exchanges in an eating disorder peer support service.
Design/methodology/approach
Email transcripts from dyads in a moderated peer-to-peer email support service were analysed using inductive thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke, 2006).
Findings
The thematic analysis generated five themes as mechanisms of peer support. Relating and reflecting experience was the central superordinate theme. Subthemes included Positive Encouragement, Checking in and Prompting, Being a Confidante and Defining Recovery.
Originality/value
The current findings align with previous research and add new developments. The theme of Defining Recovery added the awareness of the personal perception of recovery, which had not been considered as a mechanism in previous literature and may be specific to this digital platform. This study could assist in the development of training for the provision of further peer support within eating disorder services.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like take the opportunity to say thank you to the individuals who took part in the study and agreed to us studying their email exchanges. The authors would also like to thank the peer support coordinators at Beat for facilitating the study and SiennaMarisa Brown for her qualitative analysis guidance. Finally, thanks to the Scottish Government Technology Enabled Grant scheme for providing funding for this peer support project.
Citation
Peebles, I., Brown, B., Juster, E. and Duffy, F. (2022), "Thematic analysis of mechanisms underpinning email peer support for young people with eating disorders", The Journal of Mental Health Training, Education and Practice, Vol. 17 No. 1, pp. 36-47. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMHTEP-08-2020-0056
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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