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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Autism
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1465677
A study of the effects of Dance/Movement Therapy on parenting stress and emotions in mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder
Provisionally accepted- Physical Education College, Jiangxi Normal University, Nangchang, China
Currently, many scholars are working to improve the core symptoms of children with autism spectrum disorder, while neglecting the mental health of caregivers of children with ASD. This study examined the effectiveness of dance/movement therapy (DMT) in reducing parenting stress in mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder and whether depression and anxiety mediated the effects thereof. Forty mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder were recruited in Nanchang, China, and divided into an experimental group (20) and a control group (20). The subjects were assessed before and after 12 weeks of dance/movement therapy (DMT) using the Parenting Stress Index / Short Form (PSI-SF), Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), and Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) as the assessment tools. The results found that parenting stress, depression, and anxiety scores of mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder were significantly reduced after the dance/movement therapy (DMT) intervention. The mediating effects of depression and anxiety were significant, indicating that dance/movement therapy (DMT) is effective in reducing the levels of parenting stress, depression, and anxiety in mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder, and can indirectly play a role in reducing the levels of parenting stress in mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder by reducing their depression and anxiety.
Keywords: Dance/movement therapy, mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder, parenting stress, Depression, Anxious
Received: 09 Aug 2024; Accepted: 13 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yang, Zhan, Li, Wang and Kuang. 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:
Xiaomei Zhan, Physical Education College, Jiangxi Normal University, Nangchang, China
Xiafang Li, Physical Education College, Jiangxi Normal University, Nangchang, China
Yuqing Wang, Physical Education College, Jiangxi Normal University, Nangchang, China
Ziwei Kuang, Physical Education College, Jiangxi Normal University, Nangchang, China
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