ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Health Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1545461
This article is part of the Research TopicExploring Effects of Group and Partnership Dynamics in Dance on Mental and Physical HealthView all 10 articles
Anxiety Relief in the Post-Pandemic Era: A Randomized Trial on the Integration of Digital Technology into Dance Art Healing
Provisionally accepted
- Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou, China
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Trial Design: This randomized controlled trial examined the effectiveness of digital technologyintegrated dance therapy in alleviating anxiety symptoms associated with post-pandemic isolation.Methods: Participants, including both professional and amateur dancers, were randomly assigned to either a traditional dance therapy group or a digital dance therapy group utilizing smart fitness mirrors. Anxiety levels were assessed using the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) before and after the intervention and a semi-structured interview was conducted.. The trial spanned three months, with participants engaging in structured dance therapy sessions twice a week.The findings revealed that digital dance therapy led to a significant improvement in overall anxiety reduction, as indicated by enhanced PANAS scores post-intervention. Participants in the digital dance group exhibited a notable increase in positive emotions, whereas reductions in negative emotions were less pronounced and, in some cases, even showed a slight increase. Approximately half of the participants experienced a significant decrease in anxiety symptoms, with the digital intervention demonstrating greater effectiveness compared to traditional dance therapy. Additionally, qualitative feedback indicated widespread acceptance of digital dance tools, with participants recognizing their potential in alleviating social and body image anxiety.Conclusions: While digital dance therapy shows promise in enhancing positive emotions and reducing anxiety, its effectiveness in addressing negative emotions remains inconclusive. The study highlights the need for extended intervention periods, larger sample sizes, and further refinement of digital tools to optimize therapeutic outcomes. Future research should explore long-term efficacy and improve human-computer interaction in digital dance therapy.
Keywords: post-pandemic era1, anxiety2, dance3, art healing4, digital technology5, somatosensory interaction6
Received: 16 Dec 2024; Accepted: 07 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Qiu, Ruan and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Chao Ruan, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou, China
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