Combining dance movement therapy and pharmacotherapy in adolescents with major depressive disorder: A randomized controlled study

Importance Major depressive disorder (MDD) significantly impairs psychological well‐being and social functioning in adolescents. While pharmacotherapy is the most commonly used first‐line treatment in current clinical practice, its limitations highlight the need for complementary approaches. Objective This study aimed to compare dance movement therapy (DMT) combined with pharmacotherapy to pharmacotherapy alone in terms of their effects on the severity of depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and self‐esteem in adolescents with MDD. Methods Eighty adolescents with MDD from Beijing Huilongguan Hospital were randomly assigned to either an intervention group (DMT and pharmacotherapy, n = 40) or a control group (pharmacotherapy alone, n = 40). Participants completed the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale, and Rosenberg Self‐Esteem Scale at baseline and after the 6‐week intervention period. Results For depressive symptoms, repeated‐measures analyses of variance revealed a significant main effect of time, F (1, 78) = 180.50, P < 0.001, partial η 2 = 0.698, as well as a significant time × group interaction, F (1, 78) = 17.20, P < 0.001, partial η 2 = 0.181. For both anxiety symptoms and self‐esteem, a significant main effect of time was observed, but the time × group interaction was not significant. Interpretation DMT combined with pharmacotherapy improved depression symptoms more than pharmacotherapy alone, but this enhanced effect was not observed for anxiety symptoms or self‐esteem.