Mental Health ImpairmentMeHeDaNCT04085861
Mental Health in Dancers; an Intervention Study
A study testing Mental health literacy in dancers and Mental health literacy in dance teachers in people with Mental Health Impairment and Mental Health, run by Norwegian School of Sport Sciences at 1 site in Norway.
Trial summary
International studies reveal high prevalence of eating disorders (ED) and mental health issues amongst professional dancers, and the Norwegian National Ballet's house previously (2005) reported a lifetime prevalence of ED by 50% amongst female ballet dancers. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 to 40 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Mental Health Impairment, Mental Health, Eating Disorders
- What is being tested?
- Mental health literacy in dancers and Mental health literacy in dance teachers
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 190 participants
- Where
- 1 siteNorway
- Study dates
- 5 Sep 2019to 31 Jan 2021
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- None posted in the registry
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 18 to 40 years
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Adult
Who may be able to join
- professional dancers at the Norwegian University of dance
- dance teacher at the Norwegian University of dance
- art student at the Oslo National Acadmey of the Arts
Who cannot join
- Not student or dance teacher at the Norwegian University of dance, or student at the Oslo National Acadmey of the Arts
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
About this study
International studies reveal high prevalence of eating disorders (ED) and mental health issues amongst professional dancers, and the Norwegian National Ballet's house previously (2005) reported a lifetime prevalence of ED by 50% amongst female ballet dancers. Mental health issues and ED have been acknowledged for several years in most sports; still the same do not apply to dance sports. The objective of this study is to improve the knowledge on prevalence of mental health issues in professional dancers and the corresponding awareness of such among dance teachers. Additional objectives are to evaluate the effect of an intervention aimed to improve knowledge on nutrition, recovery strategies and mental health literacy among professional dancers and their teachers.
Read the detailed description
It is well documented that professional dancing increases the risk for, or strongly associates to, mental health issues like eating disorders, anxiety, and compulsive-obsessive disorders. As much as the international sport society has acknowledged the challenges on ED in sport, the same do not apply to dance. The point prevalence of ED in the general european population is about 0.3-4.0%, with a corresponding prevalence amongst professional dancers of 12.0-26.5%. Furthermore, the highest risk for ED among dance discipline is found to be within ballet. There are no reports on prevalence in Norwegian dancers; however, the Norwegian National Ballet's house reports a lifetime prevalence of 50% amongst ballet dancers. Previous studies have identified low knowledge and practice on performance nutrition and weight regulation strategies among dancers and their teachers. Findings indicates high risk of low energy availability, implying a high risk for the many associated negative effects on physical and mental health and performance capacity. Additionally, studies finds high levels of body dissatisfaction, body weight concern, perfectionism and low self-esteem, and also high prevalence of anxiety and depression.
Several intervention studies finds positive effect on body dissatisfaction, disordered eating behaviour, nutritional intake in sport athletes, and also in ballet dancers in the US and Canada. Nevertheless, so far there haven't been any intervention in Norwegian dancers.
The objective with this study is to explore mental health in professional dancers and their knowledge on recovery strategies and nutritional needs, and to implement and evaluate the effect of an intervention designed to improve these aspects. A group of performance art students serves as control to the intervention effect. Additionally this study evaluates the knowledge of these issues amongst dancers and how to deal with such issues, in dance teachers, and aims to implement and evaluate the effect of an intervention designed to improve the knowledge on these aspects.
- Conditions
- Mental Health Impairment, Mental Health, Eating Disorders, Perfectionism, Depression, Anxiety, Coping Behavior
- Being tested
- Mental health literacy in dancers, Mental health literacy in dance teachers
- Keywords
- Mental health, Eating disorders, Perfectionism, Body image, Body dissatisfaction, Body appreciation, Depression, Energy availability
- Medical subject headings
- Psychological Well-Being, Feeding and Eating Disorders, Depression, Anxiety Disorders, Body Weight
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Mental health literacy in dancersBehavioural
Receive a designed informative intervention (3 workshops of 90min each) aimed at improving their knowledge and skills on proper recovery, performance nutrition, and mental health literacy.
Mental health literacy in dance teachersBehavioural
Receive a designed informative intervention (3 workshops of 60min each) aimed at improving their knowledge and skills on how to identify and deal with mental health- and nutritional issues in dancers.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Dancers | Experimental | Recruited group of professional dancers from the Norwegian University of dance Receives: Behavioral: Mental health literacy in dancers |
| Control | No intervention | Recruited group of professional art students from the Oslo Academy of the Arts (Norway) |
| Dance teachers | Experimental | Recruited group of dance teachers from the Norwegian University of dance Receives: Behavioral: Mental health literacy in dance teachers |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Change in symptoms of eating disorders
Eating disorder examination questionnaire (EDE-q) by Prof. Fairburn validly assesses the frequency and severity of ED features to produce ED diagnoses according to the DSM-5. It constitutes 22 items scored on a Likert scale from 0-6 and 6 items in which a number of frequency is given for a given eating behavior. The questionnaire is averaged with a global scale and 4 subscales, in which a higher value indicates higher clinical severity. The global score cut-off score indicating probability of an eating disorder in the Norwegian female population is 2.5.
Measured: Pre-intervention, post-intervention (4-months), and follow up (6-months post-intervention)
Secondary outcomes (6)
Change in perfectionism
Children and adolescent perfectionism scale (CAPS) is a 22-item measure of perfectionism in children and adolescents, compromising two subscales; self-oriented perfectionism (12 items) and social-oriented perfectionism (10 items). Questions rates from 1 (false - not at all true) to 5 (very true for me); hence a higher value indicates higher level of perfectionism.
Measured: Pre-intervention, post-intervention (4-months), and follow up (6-months post-intervention)
Change in resilience
Resilience scale for adults (RSA) can be used to assess the presence of protective factors important to regain and maintain mental health. It is a self-report instrument for evaluating six protective dimensions of resilience in adults: (1) Perception of the Self, (2) Planned Future, (3) Social Competence, (4) Family Cohesion, (5) Social Resources, (6) Structured Style. The RSA has 33 items; item-response ranges from one to seven; higher scores reflect higher levels of protective factors of resilience.
Measured: Pre-intervention, post-intervention (4-months), and follow up (6-months post-intervention)
Change in self esteem
Rosenborg Self esteem inventory by Rosenberg, M. (1965). A 10-item scale that measures global self-worth by measuring both positive and negative feelings about the self. The scale is believed to be uni-dimensional. All items are answered using a 4-point Likert scale format ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree.
Measured: Pre-intervention, post-intervention (4-months), and follow up (6-months post-intervention)
Change in body appreciation
Body appreciation scale (BAS-2) by Avalos et al 2005. The 10-item Body Appreciation Scale ) assesses individuals' acceptance of, favorable opinions toward, and respect for their body. Each item is scored on a Likert scale from 1-5, and global score is the average score for items 1-10.
Measured: Pre-intervention, post-intervention (4-months), and follow up (6-months post-intervention)
Change in energy availability
Low energy availability in females questionnaire (LEAF) and Low energy availability in males questionnaire (LEAM). The LEAF-Q was developed to screen for LEA in female athletes, and measures occurrence of injuries, gastrointestinal dysfunction (GD) and menstrual irregularities (MI) related to low energy availability. Suggested cut-off's's for GD, MI, and for the total LEAF-Q score are ≥2, ≥4, and ≥8, respectively, with higher scoring indicating more severe clinical condition. The LEAM-q is a male-adapted version of the questionnaire, which is currently under validation.
Measured: Pre-intervention, post-intervention (4-months), and follow up (6-months post-intervention)
Change in depression and anxiety
Hopkins symptom check list (SCL-10) is used to measure psychological distress among adolescents and adults; designed to measure the symptoms of anxiety and depression. Four of the ten questions are about anxiety and six are about depression. All 10 questions have 4 response categories: 'Not at all', 'A little', 'Quite a bit' and 'Extremely'. The responses are summarized across all items and the mean score is used as a measure of psychological distress. An average score ≥1.85 is considered a valid cut-off value for prediction of mental distress.
Measured: Pre-intervention, post-intervention (4-months), and follow up (6-months post-intervention)
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted11 Sep 2019
- Study start5 Sep 2019
- Primary completion1 Sep 2020
- Study completion31 Jan 2021
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Mental Health ImpairmentStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Prevention
- Allocation
- Non-randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Model description
- Professional dancers at the Norwegian University of Dance (NDH) (n=200) and a group of control persons (Oslo National Academy of the Arts) (n=100) are asked to take part in this study. NDH students receive an intervention after pre-tests and are re-evaluated post-intervention and 6 months post-intervention. The art students responds to similar questionnaires at the three evaluation times. Additionally, the dance teachers (n=50) are evaluated pre, post and 6-months post-intervention, receiving a specific intervention designed for teachers on mental health literacy and which actions to take if findings dancers with mental health issues.
- Masking
- Single blind
- Who is masked
- Outcomes assessor
- Enrolment
- 190 participants (actual)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Norwegian School of Sport Sciences
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- Norwegian association for youth mental health, Østfold University College
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Professor Jorunn Sundgot-Borgen, Norwegian School of Sport Sciences
- Investigators
- Beate Anstensrud, MSc, Study director, Norwegian association for youth mental health
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT04085861
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 19/00770
- Acronym
- MeHeDa
- Status last verified
- Mar 2021
- First submitted
- 6 Sep 2019
- Last updated
- 3 Mar 2021
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- Yes
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- No: Results from study belongs to the persons and institutions behind this study
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 3 Mar 2021. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Mental Health in Dancers; an Intervention Study
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT04085861
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- MeHeDa / 19/00770
- Conditions
- Mental Health Impairment, Mental Health, Eating Disorders, Perfectionism, Depression, Anxiety, Coping Behavior
- Keywords
- Mental health, Eating disorders, Perfectionism, Body image, Body dissatisfaction, Body appreciation, Depression, Energy availability
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Enrolment
- 190 participants (actual)
- Lead sponsor
- Norwegian School of Sport SciencesUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- Norwegian association for youth mental health, Østfold University College
- Study start
- 5 Sep 2019 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 1 Sep 2020 (actual)
- Study completion
- 31 Jan 2021 (actual)
- First posted
- 11 Sep 2019 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
International studies reveal high prevalence of eating disorders (ED) and mental health issues amongst professional dancers, and the Norwegian National Ballet's house previously (2005) reported a lifetime prevalence of ED by 50% amongst female ballet dancers. Mental health issues and ED have been acknowledged for several years in most sports; still the same do not apply to dance sports. The objective of this study is to improve the knowledge on prevalence of mental health issues in professional dancers and the corresponding awareness of such among dance teachers. Additional objectives are to evaluate the effect of an intervention aimed to improve knowledge on nutrition, recovery strategies and mental health literacy among professional dancers and their teachers.
Detailed description
It is well documented that professional dancing increases the risk for, or strongly associates to, mental health issues like eating disorders, anxiety, and compulsive-obsessive disorders. As much as the international sport society has acknowledged the challenges on ED in sport, the same do not apply to dance. The point prevalence of ED in the general european population is about 0.3-4.0%, with a corresponding prevalence amongst professional dancers of 12.0-26.5%. Furthermore, the highest risk for ED among dance discipline is found to be within ballet. There are no reports on prevalence in Norwegian dancers; however, the Norwegian National Ballet's house reports a lifetime prevalence of 50% amongst ballet dancers. Previous studies have identified low knowledge and practice on performance nutrition and weight regulation strategies among dancers and their teachers. Findings indicates high risk of low energy availability, implying a high risk for the many associated negative effects on physical and mental health and performance capacity. Additionally, studies finds high levels of body dissatisfaction, body weight concern, perfectionism and low self-esteem, and also high prevalence of anxiety and depression.
Several intervention studies finds positive effect on body dissatisfaction, disordered eating behaviour, nutritional intake in sport athletes, and also in ballet dancers in the US and Canada. Nevertheless, so far there haven't been any intervention in Norwegian dancers.
The objective with this study is to explore mental health in professional dancers and their knowledge on recovery strategies and nutritional needs, and to implement and evaluate the effect of an intervention designed to improve these aspects. A group of performance art students serves as control to the intervention effect. Additionally this study evaluates the knowledge of these issues amongst dancers and how to deal with such issues, in dance teachers, and aims to implement and evaluate the effect of an intervention designed to improve the knowledge on these aspects.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Prevention
- Allocation
- Non-randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Single blind (outcomes assessor)
- Number of arms
- 3
- Model description
- Professional dancers at the Norwegian University of Dance (NDH) (n=200) and a group of control persons (Oslo National Academy of the Arts) (n=100) are asked to take part in this study. NDH students receive an intervention after pre-tests and are re-evaluated post-intervention and 6 months post-intervention. The art students responds to similar questionnaires at the three evaluation times. Additionally, the dance teachers (n=50) are evaluated pre, post and 6-months post-intervention, receiving a specific intervention designed for teachers on mental health literacy and which actions to take if findings dancers with mental health issues.
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Dancers | Experimental | Behavioral: Mental health literacy in dancersRecruited group of professional dancers from the Norwegian University of dance |
| Control | No intervention | –Recruited group of professional art students from the Oslo Academy of the Arts (Norway) |
| Dance teachers | Experimental | Behavioral: Mental health literacy in dance teachersRecruited group of dance teachers from the Norwegian University of dance |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 to 40 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Adult
Key inclusion criteria (3 listed)
- professional dancers at the Norwegian University of dance
- dance teacher at the Norwegian University of dance
- art student at the Oslo National Acadmey of the Arts
Key exclusion criteria (1 listed)
- Not student or dance teacher at the Norwegian University of dance, or student at the Oslo National Acadmey of the Arts
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Mental health literacy in dancersReceive a designed informative intervention (3 workshops of 90min each) aimed at improving their knowledge and skills on proper recovery, performance nutrition, and mental health literacy. | Behavioural | Dancers |
| Mental health literacy in dance teachersReceive a designed informative intervention (3 workshops of 60min each) aimed at improving their knowledge and skills on how to identify and deal with mental health- and nutritional issues in dancers. | Behavioural | Dance teachers |
Primary outcome
Change in symptoms of eating disorders
Time frame: Pre-intervention, post-intervention (4-months), and follow up (6-months post-intervention)
Eating disorder examination questionnaire (EDE-q) by Prof. Fairburn validly assesses the frequency and severity of ED features to produce ED diagnoses according to the DSM-5. It constitutes 22 items scored on a Likert scale from 0-6 and 6 items in which a number of frequency is given for a given eating behavior. The questionnaire is averaged with a global scale and 4 subscales, in which a higher value indicates higher clinical severity. The global score cut-off score indicating probability of an eating disorder in the Norwegian female population is 2.5.
6 secondary outcomes
Change in perfectionism
Time frame: Pre-intervention, post-intervention (4-months), and follow up (6-months post-intervention)
Change in resilience
Time frame: Pre-intervention, post-intervention (4-months), and follow up (6-months post-intervention)
Change in self esteem
Time frame: Pre-intervention, post-intervention (4-months), and follow up (6-months post-intervention)
Change in body appreciation
Time frame: Pre-intervention, post-intervention (4-months), and follow up (6-months post-intervention)
Change in energy availability
Time frame: Pre-intervention, post-intervention (4-months), and follow up (6-months post-intervention)
Change in depression and anxiety
Time frame: Pre-intervention, post-intervention (4-months), and follow up (6-months post-intervention)
Results and safety
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 3 Mar 2021.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: No. Results from study belongs to the persons and institutions behind this study
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
Beate Anstensrud, MSc study director
Norwegian association for youth mental health
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Mental health literacy in dancers and Mental health literacy in dance teachers in people with Mental Health Impairment and Mental Health, run by Norwegian School of Sport Sciences at 1 site in Norway.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 3 inclusion and 1 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 3 Mar 2021. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in Norway. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Change in symptoms of eating disorders (time frame: Pre-intervention, post-intervention (4-months), and follow up (6-months post-intervention)). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 3 Mar 2021.