Moving toward health: A study of the use of dance-movement therapy in the psychological adaptation to breast cancer.

摘要

This study investigated the use of Authentic Movement, a form of dance-movement therapy, for the psychological adaptation to breast cancer. It was hypothesized that: (1) treatment would improve mood, body-image and self-esteem and decrease psychological distress, (2) this would be sustained over time; and (3) it could be predicted by: age, stage of cancer, type of treatment, time since end of treatment, and prior experience with dance and sports.;Subjects were 33 women who had completed medical treatment 1 to 5 years prior to the study. The women were randomly assigned to treatment or waiting list control groups, and assessed pretest, posttest/post-wait, and at 3-week follow-up. Data were derived from clinical interviews and standardized self-report measures, including: Profile of Mood States, Symptom Checklist 90-Revised, Berscheid-Walster-Bohrnstedt Body-Image Scale, and Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale.;Authentic Movement had minimal effects on standardized measures of psychological adaptation, with significant changes found on only 3 of 32 subscales (vigor, fatigue, and somatization), none of which were sustained. However, even when controlling for pretest scores, women with stage I cancer and longer time since medical treatment experienced better mood and less distress, and younger women expressed greater body satisfaction. Regional difference affected change over the 6-week treatment/wait period, but did not interact with treatment exposure to yield any differential response to treatment. Responses to a non-standardized evaluation form indicated that the experience of receiving social support from group members and guidance from the leader resulted in: a subjective increase in positive feelings about self and body, decrease in depression, anxiety, and social isolation, and positive feelings for the Authentic Movement experience.;While Authentic Movement did not show any overall efficacy in ameliorating psychological sequellae to breast cancer, there was some indication that it may be more effective for certain types of women. Future research on expressive arts treatment modalities should employ a larger sample, matched controls, a longer treatment phase, and intervention at varying phases of recovery to more adequately assess treatment efficacy.