Cognitive Benefits Of A Dance Movement Therapy Program In Adults With Intellectual Disabilities

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: There is a constant connection between mind and body in Dance/Movement Therapy (DMT). This connection promotes the integration of the emotional, cognitive and physical dimensions of a person. PURPOSE: to evaluate the cognitive improvement after a DMT program in adults with intellectual disability (ID) METHODS: 28 adults with moderate-severe ID (16 men, 40-66 yr), recruited from a workshop center, participated in the study after obtaining their legal/tutors and their own informed consent. They were divided into Intervention group (IG; n=15) and Control group (CG; n= 13). The IG followed a DMT program of 26 sessions of 1 hour 2 day/w plus their regular work, meanwhile the CG continued with their regular activities. The sessions were structured as proposed by Chace (1953). Human Figure drawing test, Illinois test for Psycholinguistic aptitudes and Pictures memory test were applied before and after the DMT program. Descriptive for all variables were obtained. T-test was applied to study within-group differences. ANCOVA was applied to study between-groups differences. RESULTS: Significant deterioration for evolutionary indicator (EI), word verbal expression fluency (WVEF) and body part expression fluency (BPEF) were found in the CG. The IG significantly improves EI and picture’s memory (PM). When controlling for age, gender, ID level and baseline values, a significant difference (p<.05) between IG and CG in the EI was found. CONCLUSIONS: Even only EI showed between-groups significant differences, there is a cognitive improvement in persons with ID after following a DMT program. More research is needed with a larger sample and/or a longer DMT program. Partially supported by: MEC (Ref: DEP2012-35335) & AGAUR (Ref: 2013FI_B2 00091)Table 1: Characteristics of the participantsTable 2: Cognitive values for participants by Pre-Posttests