Expanding the social cure: a mixed-methods approach exploring the role of online group dance as support for young people (aged 16-24) living with anxiety

Saoirse Finn; Laura H V Wright; Hei Wan Mak; Emili Åström; Lucy Nicholls; Genevieve A Dingle; Katey Warran

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1258967

Expanding the social cure: a mixed-methods approach exploring the role of online group dance as support for young people (aged 16-24) living with anxiety

Front Psychol. 2023 Oct 17:14:1258967. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1258967. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Saoirse Finn¹, Laura H V Wright², Hei Wan Mak¹, Emili Åström³, Lucy Nicholls¹, Genevieve A Dingle⁴, Katey Warran¹

Affiliations

¹ WHO Collaborating Centre for Arts & Health, Social Biobehavioural Research Group, Department of Behavioural Science & Health, Institute of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
² Childhood and Youth Studies Research Group, Institute for Community, Education, and Society, Moray House School of Education and Sport, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
³ Dance Base, Scotland's National Centre for Dance, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
⁴ Music, Dance and Health Research Group, School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

Abstract

There is an increased interest in whether online arts interventions support mental health and social connections. This study explored eight weeks of online group dance as support for young people (aged 16-24) living with anxiety. The applicability of the 'social cure' theoretical framework to the novel context of an online dance class was sought. The study utilised an embedded QUAL+quan design, incorporating participatory focus group discussions (n = 3 groups; n = 11 participants) and one-on-one interviews (n = 2 participants), creative reflections (n = 16 participants) and ethnographic fieldnotes, and a repeated measures design with surveys at three timepoints (week 1, n = 27; week 4, n = 18; week 8, n = 14). Thematic analysis identified two overarching themes demonstrating how the dance classes (i) provided the opportunity to co-construct a meaningful shared identity and (ii) supported holistic wellbeing. The quantitative findings supported this, suggesting lower anxiety, depression, and loneliness and higher wellbeing, self-esteem, self-efficacy, and group closeness. This study expands the social cure to its application to an online dance context for the first time.

Keywords: group dance; loneliness; mental health; mixed-methods; online; social cure; young people.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This project was funded by the Loneliness & Social Isolation in Mental Health Research Network, which is funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) (Grant reference: ES/S004440/1). Their support is gratefully acknowledged. Any views expressed here are those of the project investigators and do not necessarily represent the views of the Loneliness & Social Isolation in Mental Health Research Network or UKRI.