Objective: This study aims to explore the current situation and the need for teaching Chinese dance to enhance the mental health of university students. It further seeks to develop an effective teaching model, implement it in practice through experimentation, and finally assess and refine the model to ensure its effectiveness in supporting students’ mental well-being.Materials and methods: A four-stage research and development design was employed, encompassing needs assessment through in-depth interviews with 12 experienced dance educators, systematic model development based on educational and psychological theories, experimental validation using a single-group pre-post design with 30 first-year students over 8 weeks, and model refinement based on expert evaluation and student feedback. Mental health was measured using an adapted Ryff's Psychological Well-Being Scale across six dimensions, supplemented by satisfaction questionnaires and qualitative feedback analysis.Results: The intervention yielded statistically significant improvements across five of six psychological well-being dimensions, with a total score increase of 17.18 points and moderate effect sizes (d=0.47-0.61). Self-Acceptance (d=0.61) and Autonomy (d=0.60) showed the largest improvements, while Positive Relations remained non-significant (p=0.080). Student satisfaction was moderately high (M=3.70, SD=0.75). Qualitative themes emphasized emotional release, cultural identity strengthening, and body-mind integration.Conclusions: The Chinese dance teaching model demonstrated significant effectiveness in promoting university students' mental health in university
Liu et al. (Wed,) studied this question.