Dance/dance movement therapy and general wellbeing, depression, and anxiety : a meta-analysis

摘要

The overall aim of this study was to examine the effects of general/recreational danceudand dance movement therapy (DMT) on general wellbeing, depression, and anxiety byudconducting a meta-analysis on all randomised controlled trials evaluating these outcomes,udthat have been conducted since Ritter and Low's (1996) meta-analysis, which alsoudinvestigated the effects of DMT. In addition, this study examined moderation of the effect ofudgeneral/recreational dance and DMT by age, gender, type of dance (general/recreational vs.udDMT), type of country (Eastern vs. Western), and type of therapist (specific vs. general).udResults indicated that dance/DMT had small, but significant and positive effects on generaludwellbeing, depression, and anxiety. The effects for general wellbeing and depression wereudmoderated by type of therapist, but were not moderated by age, gender, type of dance, or typeudof country. Results are discussed in relation to the quality of the trials included, Ritter andudLow's findings, the findings of the moderation analyses, and the implications these findingsudhave for psychologists who may be interested in using dance/DMT as an adjunctiveudintervention technique.