Dance intervention for teenage girls with internalizing problems

Depression tends to increase globally and is estimated to be one of the conditions that cause the greatest burden of disease in 2030. Exercise is considered an active strategy to prevent and treat depression and anxiety in adults and school-aged youth. Participating in physical activity can also improve self-esteem. To increase physical activity in young age, an organized, non-competitive, leisure-time intervention is considered beneficial. Dance is a well-established and popular form of physical activity, particularly for young women. In a social context, dance might serve as a protective factor in preventing mental illness and reducing the severity of psychosomatic symptoms. An 8-month dance intervention study showed cost-effectiveness and improvements in self-rated health for adolescent girls with internalizing problems. The improvement remained a year after the intervention.