Young adults’ experiences of using FREED-Mobile, a smartphone friendly intervention designed to facilitate help-seeking for eating disorders

Abstract

Abstract Background Early intervention increases the likelihood of eating disorder recovery, yet many young people delay seeking professional support for eating difficulties. We developed a smartphone-friendly, online intervention - FREED-Mobile [FREED-M] to encourage early help-seeking amongst young people with eating difficulties. We aimed to explore young people’s experiences of the FREED-M intervention within the context of a feasibility trial. Methods Completers in the FREED-M feasibility trial ( N = 72) were invited to participate in an optional semi-structured interview, focused on their experience of FREED-M and participating in the study. Interviews were conducted with eleven young people ( M age = 22.45 years, 92% female) and data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Results Five key themes in participants’ experiences were identified: (1) Supporting awareness and early steps towards behavioural change; (2) Balancing self-exploration with orientation towards disclosure to others; (3) Facilitating informational exposure whilst holding psychological safety; (4) Enabling structured self-reflection through low-burden assessment; and (5) Supporting engagement through an accessible, attractive and user-friendly design. Conclusions These results will be used to inform future iterations of the intervention and its evaluation via a randomised controlled trial.