Exploring the Effectiveness of Dance as an Intervention to Promote Social-Emotional Health in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) (ASD)

May 6, 2025 updated by: Loma Linda University

Exploring the Effectiveness of Dance as an Intervention to Promote Social-Emotional Health Within the Everyday Lives of Children With ASD

This study will explore the effectiveness of dance as an intervention to promote social-emotional health within children with ASD.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The study will look children with ASD's response to a 7-week occupational therapy led dance program in regards to social-emotional health. This will include exploring the effect on change of social-emotional behavior in children with ASD after being exposed to dance intervention through comparing the quantitative measurements of pre- and post-assessment scores of the Developmental Profile 4 (DP-4), analysis of the qualitative measurements of pre- and post-social-emotional behaviors via child report, and analysis of qualitative observations of social-emotional behavior through reviewing video recording of dance classes. Additionally, parents' perspectives will be explored through post-interview questions to share their observations of their child's experience.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

8

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • California
      • Loma Linda, California, United States, 92350
        • Loma Linda University Health

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria for Youth Participants

  • Elementary school children ages 7-11.

  • Parent/caregiver/guardian must provide proof of an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) with a Primary Eligibility of Autism.

    o Parent/caregiver/guardian must provide proof of IEP and eligibility.

  • Will speak and understand English.
  • Able to physically participate in the dance program without the use of adaptive equipment.

  • Answer yes to the following Skillset Checklist (Per parent/caregiver/guardian report):

    • Follow 1- and 2-step instructions.
    • Follow structured activities with supervision (e.g., visual schedule, routine).
    • Previous participation in extracurricular group activities over the last 6 months - 1 year (e.g., structured sports).
    • Minimum 5-minutes of attention to task.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • No IEP Primary Eligibility of Autism.
  • No children participants younger than 7.
  • No children participants older than 11.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Hip-Hop Dance
The program will be a 7-week occupational therapy led dance program utilizing hip-hop dance as an intervention. Subjects with ASD will dance for 1 time a week for 60 minutes, ending with a dance showcase on the final week.
Behavioral: Hip-Hop Dance

I. Week 1 - Session 1

  1. Daily Check-In
  2. Warm-Up: Mobility/Grooves
  3. Lesson: Style - Hip-Hop
  4. Cool-Down: Deep Breathing
  5. Debrief Check-In

II. Week 2 - Session 2

  1. Daily Check-In
  2. Warm-Up: Mobility/Grooves
  3. Lesson: Style - Locking
  4. Cool-Down: Instructed Yoga
  5. Debrief Check-In

III. Week 3 - Session 3

  1. Daily Check-In
  2. Warm-Up: Mobility/Grooves
  3. Lesson: Style - Breaking
  4. Cool-Down: Sensory Time
  5. Debrief Check-In

IV. Week 4 - Session 4

  1. Daily Check-In
  2. Warm-Up: Mobility/Grooves
  3. Lesson: Style - Popping
  4. Cool-Down: Animal Deep Breathing
  5. Debrief Check-In

V. Week 5 - Session 5

  1. Daily Check-In
  2. Warm-Up: Mobility/Grooves
  3. Lesson: Learn Showcase Routine
  4. Cool-Down: Animal Instructed Yoga
  5. Debrief Check-In

VI. Week 6 - Session 6

  1. Daily Check-In
  2. Warm-Up: Mobility/Grooves
  3. Lesson: Review Showcase Routine
  4. Cool-Down: Sensory Time
  5. Debrief Check-In

VII. Week 7 - Dance Showcase

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Child Description of Impact on Social-Emotional Health
Time Frame: Change between baseline (time of enrollment) and Week 7
Subject will be asked to describe emotional state immediately prior to weekly dance intervention and immediately after dance intervention completed. Subject will be asked to verbalize emotional state or choose an icon to represent emotional state. Interviewer will record subject response. Effectiveness will be measured based on verbal or visual responses between 3 options: "Happy", "Sad", or "Okay", where "Happy" is considered effective, "Sad" considered to be ineffective, or if the responses are the same before and after than there is no change. This is a composite measurement over the course of 7 weeks.
Change between baseline (time of enrollment) and Week 7

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Parent Perspective of Impact on Social-Emotional Health
Time Frame: Change between baseline (time of enrollment) and Week 7 (program completion)
Parent will complete the Developmental Profile 4 (DP-4) assessment pre- and post-program regarding the child's social-emotional behavior. Effectiveness will be measured on responses between "Yes" and "No", where "Yes" is applicable to the parent's child, and "No" is not applicable. This is a composite measurement with 1 domain and 36 sub questions of the assessment before and after the program.
Change between baseline (time of enrollment) and Week 7 (program completion)
Change in Social-Emotional Behavior
Time Frame: Change between baseline (time of enrollment) and Week 7 (program completion)
Subjects will be audio/video recorded in each dance class weekly. Researcher will observe and analyze recordings using a developed observation checklist of each subject. Effectiveness will be measured by responses of "Observed" and "Not Observed", where "Observed" is witness in the subject and is effective, and "Not Observed" is not witnessed in the subject and is ineffective.This is a composite measurement over the course of 7 weeks.
Change between baseline (time of enrollment) and Week 7 (program completion)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Loma Linda University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

April 2, 2024

Primary Completion (Actual)

May 25, 2024

Study Completion (Actual)

May 25, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 28, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 28, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

March 6, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 7, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 6, 2025

Last Verified

May 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 5230588

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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