Effect of Dance Therapy on Stress and Anxiety in Working Women

Abstract

Objective: To find out the effect of dance therapy on stress and anxiety in working women. Method: A total of 41 women between age group 25 to 40 years were randomly selected to receive aerobic dance therapy. The program was conducted for 4 weeks, scheduled three days in a week, with a session of 10-20 minutes each day. Outcome assessment included perceived stress scale (PSS) and Hamilton anxiety rating scale (HAMA) which was recorded before and after completion of sessions. Result: There was a reduction in levels of stress and anxiety after 4 weeks of aerobic dance therapy (p value < 0.0001) which was found to be statistically significant; whereas correlation between working hours and scores of PSS (r value -0.16) and HAMA (r value -0.06) Scales were statistically insignificant. Conclusion: On the basis of results of our study we concluded that aerobic dance therapy was effective in reducing stress and anxiety in working women.