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Cited by 163Diversity and Impact of DanceArt Therapy and Mental HealthTreatment of Major Depression

Dance movement therapy for depression

Open access
Meekums, Bonnie, Karkou, Vicky, Nelson, E Andrea·2015·Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
DOI 10.1002/14651858.cd009895.pub2PMC PMC8928931
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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Depression is a debilitating condition affecting more than 350 million people worldwide (WHO 2012) with a limited number of evidence-based treatments. Drug treatments may be inappropriate due to side effects and cost, and not everyone can use talking therapies.There is a need for evidence-based treatments that can be applied across cultures and with people who find it difficult to verbally articulate thoughts and feelings. Dance movement therapy (DMT) is used with people from a range of cultural and intellectual backgrounds, but effectiveness remains unclear. OBJECTIVES: To examine the effects of DMT for depression with or without standard care, compared to no treatment or standard care alone, psychological therapies, drug treatment, or other physical interventions. Also, to compare the effectiveness of different DMT approaches. SEARCH METHODS: The Cochrane Depression, Anxiety and Neurosis Review Group's Specialised Register (CCDANCTR-Studies and CCDANCTR-References) and CINAHL were searched (to 2 Oct 2014) together with the World Health Organization's International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (WHO ICTRP) and ClinicalTrials.gov. The review authors also searched the Allied and Complementary Medicine Database (AMED), the Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) and Dissertation Abstracts (to August 2013), handsearched bibliographies, contacted professional associations, educational programmes and dance therapy experts worldwide. SELECTION CRITERIA: Inclusion criteria were: randomised controlled trials (RCTs) studying outcomes for people of any age with depression as defined by the trialist, with at least one group being DMT. DMT was defined as: participatory dance movement with clear psychotherapeutic intent, facilitated by an individual with a level of training that could be reasonably expected within the country in which the trial was conducted. For example, in the USA this would either be a trainee, or qualified and credentialed by the American Dance Therapy Association (ADTA). In the UK, the therapist would either be in training with, or accredited by, the Association for Dance Movement Psychotherapy (ADMP, UK). Similar professional bodies exist in Europe, but in some countries (e.g. China) where the profession is in development, a lower level of qualification would mirror the situation some decades previously in the USA or UK. Hence, the review authors accepted a relevant professional qualification (e.g. nursing or psychodynamic therapies) plus a clear description of the treatment that would indicate its adherence to published guidelines including Levy 1992, ADMP UK 2015, Meekums 2002, and Karkou 2006. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Study methodological quality was evaluated and data were extracted independently by the first two review authors using a data extraction form, the third author acting as an arbitrator. MAIN RESULTS: Three studies totalling 147 participants (107 adults and 40 adolescents) met the inclusion criteria. Seventy-four participants took part in DMT treatment, while 73 comprised the control groups. Two studies included male and female adults with depression. One of these studies included outpatient participants; the other study was conducted with inpatients at an urban hospital. The third study reported findings with female adolescents in a middle-school setting. All included studies collected continuous data using two different depression measures: the clinician-completed Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D); and the Symptom Checklist-90-R (SCL-90-R) (self-rating scale).Statistical heterogeneity was identified between the three studies. There was no reliable effect of DMT on depression (SMD -0.67 95% CI -1.40 to 0.05; very low quality evidence). A planned subgroup analysis indicated a positive effect in adults, across two studies, 107 participants, but this failed to meet clinical significance (SMD -7.33 95% CI -9.92 to -4.73).One adult study reported drop-out rates, found to be non-significant with an odds ratio of 1.82 [95% CI 0.35 to 9.45]; low quality evidence. One study measured social functioning, demonstrating a large positive effect (MD -6.80 95 % CI -11.44 to -2.16; very low quality evidence), but this result was imprecise. One study showed no effect in either direction for quality of life (0.30 95% CI -0.60 to 1.20; low quality evidence) or self esteem (1.70 95% CI -2.36 to 5.76; low quality evidence). AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: The low-quality evidence from three small trials with 147 participants does not allow any firm conclusions to be drawn regarding the effectiveness of DMT for depression. Larger trials of high methodological quality are needed to assess DMT for depression, with economic analyses and acceptability measures and for all age groups.

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119 of 119 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • There is growing evidence that DMT may have a positive psychological impact on the psychological states of patients with somatic concerns.

    “There is growing evidence that DMT, a creative body–mind form of psychotherapy, may have a positive psychological impact on the psychological states of patients with somatic concerns.”

    From The Development of Mindful-Based Dance Movement Therapy Intervention for Chronic Pain: A Pilot Study With Chronic Headache Patients (2021) · cites this paper as Meekums et al., 2015

    The ‘Why it is important to do this review’ section cites possible reductions in isolation and depression among cancer patients receiving DMT, and ‘How the intervention might work’ suggests DMT may be relevant to clients with body-image or body-memory concerns. But this copy is a review protocol and does not establish growing evidence of psychological benefit across patients with somatic concerns generally. The passages provided have no page numbers. (LLM, conf=0.79)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • These results can also support the results from a large-scale clinical trial on DMT and depression and meta-analyses on DMT for depression.

    “These results can also support the results from a large-scale clinical trial on DMT and depression (Hyvönen et al., 2020) and meta-analyses on DMT for depression (Meekums et al., 2015; Karkou et al., 2019).”

    From The Development of Mindful-Based Dance Movement Therapy Intervention for Chronic Pain: A Pilot Study With Chronic Headache Patients (2021) · cites this paper as Meekums et al., 2015

    The Objectives section identifies this as a review of dance movement therapy for depression. But our copy is labelled a protocol: Measures of treatment effect says the authors will perform a meta-analysis if sufficient data are available, and it reports no meta-analysis results for the citing authors’ results to support. No page numbers are provided in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.83)

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Cites

2 retracted

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1 of the 120 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 4

  1. Cruz RF, Sabers DL. Dance/movement therapy is more effective than previously reported. The Arts in Psychotherapy 1998;25(2):101-4.
  2. Dosamantes-Alperson 1981 Dosamantes-Alperson E. Experiencing in movement therapy. American Journal of Dance Therapy 1981;4(2): 33-44.
  3. Heimbeck A, Gerd H. Movement therapy and depression - evaluation study of a disorder-oriented and an unspecific movement therapeutic support in a clinical setting. Psychotherapie Psychosomatik Medizinische Psychologie May 2011;61(5):200-7.
  4. Karkou V, Sanderson V. Arts Therapies: A Research-Based Map of the Field. Edinburgh: Elsevier, 2006.

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Authors
Meekums, B., Karkou, V., & Nelson, E. A.
Affiliations
  • University of Leeds (GB)
  • Edge Hill University (GB)
ORCID
Venue
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2015-02-19
Volume
2016
Issue
6
Pages
CD009895-CD009895
ISSN
  • 1361-6137 (ISSN-L)
  • 1465-1858
DOI
10.1002/14651858.cd009895.pub2
PMC
PMC8928931
OpenAlex
W1806900191
Cited by
163
References
120
Citations by year
2026: 12 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 20 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 14 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 2
FWCI
2.12
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Edge Hill University Research Information Repository (Edge Hill University) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • White Rose Research Online (University of Leeds, The University of Sheffield, University of York) (acceptedVersion)
  • ResearchOnline (Glasgow Caledonian University) (acceptedVersion)
  • Edge Hill University (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Diversity and Impact of Dance
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Conservation › Art Therapy and Mental Health
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Treatment of Major Depression
Keywords
dance therapy, depression, treatment effectiveness, psychotherapy, antidepressants, physical interventions, non-pharmacological treatment, standard of care, access to mental health care, cost-effectiveness, adverse effects, quality of life, long-term outcomes
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Antidepressive Agents, Dance Therapy, Depression, Empathy, Female, Humans, Male, Movement, Psychotherapy, Sensation, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic

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