PMID- 34349692
OWN - NLM
STAT- PubMed-not-MEDLINE
LR  - 20220425
IS  - 1664-1078 (Print)
IS  - 1664-1078 (Electronic)
IS  - 1664-1078 (Linking)
VI  - 12
DP  - 2021
TI  - A Dance Movement Psychotherapy Intervention for the Wellbeing of Children With an 
      Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Pilot Intervention Study.
PG  - 588418
LID - 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.588418 [doi]
LID - 588418
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sustaining the wellbeing for children with an autism spectrum 
      disorder (ASD) can be highly demanding. Dance Movement Psychotherapy (DMP), a 
      form of psychotherapy with a non-verbal character, may present as a relevant 
      intervention option for this group of children. METHODS: A protocol-based group 
      DMP intervention was developed and implemented in two special educational needs 
      schools in the North West of England. We aimed to investigate the effects of DMP 
      on children with ASD using the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) and 
      Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Twenty-six children aged between 
      8 and 13 years (mean age = 10.65 years) with ASD were randomly allocated to DMP 
      and a control group with standard care, following a crossover research design. 
      RESULTS: Results showed no significant carryover or period effects for either the 
      SCQ or SDQ (p > 0.05). A significant intervention effect was found only for SCQ 
      (p = 0.005) but not for SDQ (p > 0.05). ANCOVAs were performed on the data before 
      the crossover to test for differences in SCQ and SDQ scores between the DMP 
      intervention and control groups while controlling for pre-intervention scores. 
      Those in the DMP intervention group presented significantly lower SCQ scores 
      following the intervention period than those in the control group (p = 0.001). No 
      significant differences in post-intervention SDQ scores were found between DMP 
      intervention and control groups (p = 0.2). However, minimal clinically important 
      differences (MCID) were reached for both SCQ and SDQ measures before crossover 
      for those in the DMP intervention group. Moreover, repeated measures ANOVAs 
      performed on SCQ and SDQ measures following crossover were significant, with the 
      change in both SCQ (p = 0.001) and SDQ (p = 0.009) pre-and post-intervention 
      being significantly greater for those in the DMP intervention than the control 
      group. CONCLUSION: The pilot DMP intervention has shown promising results on the 
      social and emotional wellbeing of children with ASD irrespective of whether they 
      preferred verbal or non-verbal mode of communication. Limitations and 
      appropriateness of the research methods implemented in this study for their use 
      in a large RCT are discussed in detail. Overall, our findings highlight the value 
      of creative therapies for improving the lives of young vulnerable groups.
CI  - Copyright (c) 2021 Aithal, Karkou, Makris, Karaminis and Powell.
FAU - Aithal, Supritha
AU  - Aithal S
AD  - Research Centre for Arts and Wellbeing, School of Applied Health and Social Care, 
      Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, United Kingdom.
FAU - Karkou, Vicky
AU  - Karkou V
AD  - Research Centre for Arts and Wellbeing, School of Applied Health and Social Care, 
      Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, United Kingdom.
FAU - Makris, Stergios
AU  - Makris S
AD  - Research Centre for Arts and Wellbeing, Department of Psychology, Edge Hill 
      University, Ormskirk, United Kingdom.
FAU - Karaminis, Themis
AU  - Karaminis T
AD  - Research Centre for Arts and Wellbeing, Department of Psychology, Edge Hill 
      University, Ormskirk, United Kingdom.
FAU - Powell, Joanne
AU  - Powell J
AD  - Research Centre for Arts and Wellbeing, Department of Psychology, Edge Hill 
      University, Ormskirk, United Kingdom.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
DEP - 20210719
PL  - Switzerland
TA  - Front Psychol
JT  - Frontiers in psychology
JID - 101550902
PMC - PMC8326518
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - Autism spectrum disorder
OT  - arts therapies
OT  - dance movement psychotherapy
OT  - pilot study
OT  - social and communication
OT  - wellbeing
COIS- The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any 
      commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential 
      conflict of interest.
EDAT- 2021/08/06 06:00
MHDA- 2021/08/06 06:01
PMCR- 2021/07/19
CRDT- 2021/08/05 06:24
PHST- 2020/07/28 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2021/06/09 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2021/08/05 06:24 [entrez]
PHST- 2021/08/06 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2021/08/06 06:01 [medline]
PHST- 2021/07/19 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.588418 [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - Front Psychol. 2021 Jul 19;12:588418. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.588418. eCollection 
      2021.