Dance-movement Therapy in the Treatment of Adolescent Depression

Study Protocol for a Randomised Controlled Trial of Dance-movement Therapy for Adolescents With Depression

The aim of this research is to measure the effectiveness of Dance movement therapy in the treatment of adolescent depression.

Research will start by recruitment of 140 patients (aged 13-17 years) from youth psychiatric outpatient clinic in Helsinki University Central hospital. They will be randomized to two groups. The intervention group will attend Dance movement therapy (DMT) for 12 weeks and the control group is getting treatment as usual (TAU). The outcome will be measured with self-report questionnaires and interviews measuring symptoms of depression and body image. Outcome measurements will be done before intervention, after intervention and 3 months after intervention has finished. The research will start in September 2022 and continue until the end of 2027. The results will be published in medical scientific journals during the year 2027

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Inclusion Criteria:

• Diagnosis of medium or severe depression; BDI 16 points or more. At least 4/9 symptoms of depression in K-SADS-PL interview

Exclusion Criteria:

• Acute psychosis, psychotic depression, personality disorder, severe anorexia, substance misuse that is on a critical level