Oxford Social Movement Activation Study

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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For adolescents and young people particularly, there is need for better and more readily available treatments for depression and low mood. Comparatively less work has been done to characterize and treat depression specifically in young people. Previous literature indicates that often the unaddressed or under-addressed mental health difficulties in youth perseverate into adulthood and contribute to a host of individual and communal difficulties throughout the lifespan (Layard & Clark, 2015). Specifically, if depression goes unaddressed in young adulthood, the likelihood of a chronic course and multiple relapses or recurrences is much higher (Saunders et al., 2021; Buckman et al., 2018). In the present research, we seek to investigate the potential efficacy of a novel intervention for young people with low mood. Depression disrupts social functioning, and social connectedness is especially important during adolescence for healthy development. Within a growing body of literature, social dance has been linked to social and mental health benefits along the dimensions of those disrupted in depression (Lakes et al., 2016; Shuper & Vulcan, 2021; Hyvönen et al., 2020). We hypothesize that social dance might preferentially and efficiently target the goals of addressing loneliness, closeness, and enjoyment in young people compared to other approaches to the treatment of low mood and depression in a way that could lead to mood improvements. Specifically, we are interested in the impact of a social movement-based activity, salsa dancing, on young peoples' mood and social and emotional processing. Social and emotional processing (SEP) tasks, such as emotional facial recognition and memory for emotional words, have been demonstrated to correspond with early changes that can be predictive of mood changes and treatment efficacy downstream (e.g., Harmer et al., 2017). Including SEP tasks in this research will help to elucidate the potential mechanisms underlying mood improvements, should social dance correspond to improved mood in participants. The present research seeks to: Aim 1: Investigate the effect of a social dance intervention on low mood. This will be assessed by administering psychological questionnaires to participants before, during, and after the study course of social dance sessions. In particular, we hypothesize that participants will experience reductions in low mood (assessed via the PHQ-9) following the social movement intervention as compared to a waitlist control. Aim 2: Characterize any early social and emotional processing changes that correspond to social dance versus a waitlist control. This will be assessed via social and emotional processing task performance before, during, and following the social movement sessions. We anticipate that improvements in social and emotional functioning as demonstrated via one or several of these tasks will assist in elucidating the possible mechanisms responsible for mood improvement from social movement. Aim 3: Characterize any social interaction difference from pre to post intervention that correspond to the social dance versus waitlist condition. This will be assessed via a version of the trust game before and following the social movement sessions and waitlist control. We anticipate seeing more disrupted trust behavior prior to the intervention or control conditions and less disrupted trust behavior following salsa dancing classes, but not the waitlist control. In this randomized controlled trial, participants in the experimental group will complete six to eight sessions of social movement (salsa dance) classes within an eight-week period, and complete psychological questionnaires and tasks before, during, and after these eight weeks. Their scores will be compared with those of a control group that will participate in an active waitlist condition. If the present study suggests that social movement benefits young people with low mood, it could form the basis for investigating a potential new cost-effective, non-invasive, accessible intervention that could be made available to young people.

Official Title
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Investigating the Effects of Social Movement on Mood and Social and Emotional Functioning in Young People Experiencing Low Mood

Conditions
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Depression, Low Mood, Depressive Disorder, Mood Disorders, Depressive Symptoms

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Salsa Dancing


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Individuals aged 18 to 24 at time of eligibility screening; Competency to give informed consent; Individuals will *not* be excluded for a formal diagnosis of depression from a GP or other mental healthcare provider, nor for being presently or formerly on medication for depression; nor for presently or formerly attending talk therapies; Individuals who do not meet the exclusion criteria specified below. Exclusion Criteria: Individuals with a PHQ-9 score of less than 5 (indicating no low mood) or greater than 19 (indicating a low mood that could be too severe for this research); individuals who self-report a current or recent diagnosis of any psychotic disorder (e.g., bipolar, schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder), substance use disorders, eating disorders, or personality disorders individuals who self-report that they are unfit for light physical exertion; individuals who regularly, or have regularly, attended partner dance classes or partner dance events within the last six months (as they would already be receiving the potential benefits we are investigating in this study); and individuals for whom the Principal Investigator determines that the study is not suitable.

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years
Maximum Age: 24 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Basic Science
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Interventional Model Description: Participants will be randomly assigned to either the salsa dancing intervention (46 participants) or the passive waiting-list control group (46 participants). Randomization will be stratified by gender.
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Salsa Dancing<br>Participants will complete eight weeks of a salsa course in Oxford (of which they need to attend six classes to remain in the study), followed by a one-month follow-up time point. | Behavioral: Salsa Dancing<br>* Participants will complete salsa dancing classes in central Oxford with instructor(s) from the Oxford University Salsa Society<br>|
| No Intervention: Waitlist Control<br>Participants will wait twelve weeks, completing the questionnaires and tasks at the same study time points as participants in the experimental condition.They will then be offered the opportunity to complete the eight-week salsa course. Should they choose to participate in the salsa course, they will additionally be offered the opportunity to complete questionnaires at two additional time points. | |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Change in depressive symptoms from baseline at week four, eight, and twelve | Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) score. Higher scores indicate greater depressive symptoms. | Will be assessed at week 0, 4, 8, and 12 of the intervention | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Change in anxiety symptoms from baseline at week four, eight, and twelve | Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) score. Higher scores indicate greater anxiety. | Will be assessed at week 0, 4, 8, and 12 of the intervention | 
| Change in social anxiety symptoms from baseline at week four, eight, and twelve | Social Anxiety Scale - Adolescent (SAS-A) score. Higher scores indicate greater social anxiety. | Will be assessed at week 0, 4, 8, and 12 of the intervention | 
| Change in loneliness from baseline at week four, eight, and twelve | UCLA Loneliness Scale (+ Loneliness Question) score. Higher scores indicate more loneliness. | Will be assessed at week 0, 4, 8, and 12 of the intervention | 
| Change in daily mood questionnaire scores | Scoring one Likert scale mood questionnaire (How happy do you feel?), range 1-10. Higher values represent more happiness. | daily from baseline through week 12 of the intervention | 
| Change in social anhedonia from baseline at week four, eight, and twelve | Anticipatory and Consummatory Interpersonal Pleasure Scale (ACIPS) score. Higher scores indicate lower social anhedonia. | Will be assessed at week 0, 4, 8, and 12 of the intervention | 
| Change in recognition of positive and negative facial expressions from baseline at week 8 | Hit rate for detecting positive versus negative faces in a facial expression recognition task (FERT) | Will be assessed at week 0 and week 8 of the intervention | 
| Change in speed during recognition of positive and negative facial expressions | Reaction times for correctly recognised positive versus negative faces in facial expression recognition task (FERT) | Will be assessed at week 0 and week 8 of the intervention | 
| Change in emotional categorisation (ECAT) | Reaction times for correctly classifying positive versus negative personality characteristic words | Will be assessed at week 0 and week 8 of the intervention | 
| Change in recall in the emotional recall task (EREC) | Number of positive and negative words correctly (and incorrectly) recalled in the EREC task | Will be assessed at week 0 and week 8 of the intervention | 
| Change in memory in the emotional memory task (EMEM) | Number of positive and negative words correctly (and incorrectly) recalled as familiar and novel | Will be assessed at week 0 and week 8 of the intervention | 
| Change in trust behavior in the trust game (Trust Game) | Investment behavior and sensitivity to trustee's generosity when playing the role of the investor in a trust game | Will be assessed at week 0 and week 8 of the intervention | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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low mood, depression, social movement, dance, salsa dance