Browsing by Author "Kunnari, Vilma"

Aim. Children and adolescents have been found to learn emotional and social skills effectively through movement, practice and active participation. Therefore, dance is often utilized as a tool of learning. Emotional and social skills are necessary for understanding and managing emotions, setting and achieving goals, feeling and expressing empathy, as well as building and maintaining meaningful relationships. The aim of this literature review is to explore the potential of dance intervention in supporting school-aged children and adolescents’ social-emotional competence. Factors that may influence the effectiveness of an intervention are further discussed. Methods. Literacy search was conducted by searching the PubMed, PsychINFO, and Google Scholar databases with search terms “dance/dance intervention/dance therapy”, ”emotional skills/social skills/SEL”, and ”children/youth/adolescence”. Reference lists of subject-related articles were also utilized in the search process. Time of publication (articles published since 2010 were included) and use of quantitative measures and a control group were applied as inclusion criteria. Distinctly clinical samples were excluded. Six studies were selected, in all of which children or adolescents took part in a dance intervention. Results and conclusions. In five studies, improvement of the social-emotional competence of the intervention group was statistically significant compared to the controls in at least one of the measured areas. In one study, skills of the intervention group improved, but the result was not statistically significant. Based on this review, dance intervention may improve the social-emotional competence among children and adolescents. Evidence comprised both intra- and interpersonal dimensions of the competence. Longer duration of intervention and teaching methods emphasizing teamwork may improve the effectiveness of a dance intervention. Gender or cultural factors may also impact effectiveness. Further research is needed on stability, generalizability, and effect mechanisms of these results.