Abstract
This study examines the effects of dance movement therapy (DMT) on empathy for adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). DMT based on the embodiment approach offers body-centered interventions, such as mirroring techniques, to address the needs of ASD patients. Accordingly, findings of a feasibility study suggest that DMT may be an effective approach for clients on the ASD spectrum. The present study is a randomized controlled trial that was conducted as a multicenter study within the framework of the EU-funded research project TESIS (Toward an Embodied Science of Intersubjectivity), and employed a two-factorial between-subject design. The treatment group (n = 35) participated in a 10-week manualized DMT intervention, whereas the control group (n = 22) received treatment only after a waiting period. Empathy, measured with the Cognitive and Emotional Empathy Questionnaire (CEEQ), was the main variable of interest, analyzed by a repeated measures analysis of variance. In order to also include incomplete data cases, we used the expectation-maximization algorithm for missing data estimation. Results suggest no significant changes in overall empathy between groups. We discuss the results and limitations, as well as future research options.
Highlights
There has been an increasing interest in the use of dance movement therapy (DMT) in autism spectrum disorder [1]
In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders version 5 [2], the previously differentiated underlying categories of autism are subsumed under the broader term autism spectrum disorder (ASD), accounting for frequent overlaps and difficulties in differentiating the symptomatology of different subtypes of individuals diagnosed with this disorder, and for the huge interindividual scope of the disorder
Regardless of the type of analysis, neither the feasibility study [1], nor the study at hand could definitively confirm the hypothesized effects of DMT on the level of empathy in adults with ASD
Summary
There has been an increasing interest in the use of dance movement therapy (DMT) in autism spectrum disorder [1]. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder, marked by impairments in reciprocal social interactions and patterns of communication as well as by a restrictive, stereotyped, and repetitive repertoire of interests and activities Classification of Diseases-10, ICD-10, by the World Health Organization, WHO). These impairments affect a broad range of daily life activities and the functioning of an individual in a variety of different situations. In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders version 5 [2], the previously differentiated underlying categories of autism are subsumed under the broader term ASD, accounting for frequent overlaps and difficulties in differentiating the symptomatology of different subtypes of individuals diagnosed with this disorder, and for the huge interindividual scope of the disorder. Deficits in social cognition seem to constitute one of the central impairments in ASD (e.g., [5])
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