Recent data from the Healthy Minds Survey (2024-2025) indicates that approximately one-third of college students experience anxiety or depression, with a majority reporting that mental health challenges significantly impair academic performance. At Brandeis University, despite institutional efforts such as the Health, Wellness, and Life Skills (HWL) program, students continue to face barriers to care, including financial concerns and time constraints. Building off existing interventions such as Dance Movement Therapy, a psychotherapy treatment, this longitudinal study investigates the potential of campus-based dance participation as a sustainable, accessible mental health intervention. Utilizing a cohort of collegiate dancers and a comparative sample of non-dancing peers (N = 40), this research examines changes in perceived stress, self-esteem, sleep quality, and mood over the course of an academic semester. Physical activity data were quantified using Metabolic Equivalent of Task (MET) values, specifically focusing on the metabolic intensity of diverse dance modalities ranging from hip-hop to contemporary. Mental health questionnaires, including the Perceived Stress Scale, Rosenberg Self-Esteem, Sleep Quality Scale, and Profile of Mood, were voluntarily answered over 13-14 weeks. Data were analyzed using Linear Mixed-Effects Models (LMER) to account for the nested structure of repeated measures over time. While the main effect of timepoint was not found to be a significant predictor of psychological change, the analysis revealed a significant main effect of Group for perceived stress (Estimate = -4.36, p = 0.038). These results indicate that while stress levels did not fluctuate significantly across the semester for the sample as a whole, the dance cohort maintained significantly lower perceived stress levels compared to the non-dancing control group. These findings suggest that while the academic semester poses a consistent psychological load, identification as a collegiate dancer serves as a significant buffer against perceived stress. By quantifying the metabolic intensity of diverse dance modalities, this study provides a snapshot of the structured, high-engagement physical activity that could be a targeted mental health intervention. Integrating such evidence-based extracurricular programs into university wellness strategies offers a scalable, low-barrier approach to fostering holistic student resilience and mitigating the collegiate mental health crisis.
Destiny Kluck (Thu,) studied this question.
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