ArticleSports medicine - open2023
Behind the Curtain: Prevalence of Symptoms of Depression, Generalised Anxiety and Eating Disorders in 147 Professional Dancers from Six Opera Houses or State Theatres.
Article in Sports medicine - open, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 44 citations in OpenAlex.
- Psychological interventions for dancers' mental health: a systematic review.BMC psychology · 2025Pooled it
- Exploring the factors associated with professional and non-professional dancer well-being: a comprehensive systematic review.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Pooled it
- Eating Attitudes and Anthropometric Indices of Adult Women in Performance Dance: A Case-Control Study in Greece.European eating disorders review : the journal of the Eating Disorders Association · 2026Article
- Return to Dance and Physical Activity After Surgery in Professional Ballet Dancers.Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine · 2026Article
- The hidden athlete: exploring work and performance ability of professional dancers through a mixed-method-approach.BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation · 2025Article
- A preliminary investigation into self-compassion and compassion-based intervention for mental health in the performing arts.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- Sleeping Beauty? A Prospective Study on the Prevalence of Sleep Problems and Their Potential Determinants in Professional Dancers.Sports medicine - open · 2024Article
- Characteristics of mental skills interventions in dance: a mixed methods systematic review protocol.BMJ open · 2024Article
- Health Problems of Professional Ballet Dancers: an Analysis of 1627 Weekly Self-Reports on Injuries, Illnesses and Mental Health Problems During One Season.Sports medicine - open · 2024Article
- A systematic review, meta-analysis, and meta-regression of the prevalence of self-reported disordered eating and associated factors among athletes worldwide.Journal of eating disorders · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMental health problems cover a wide spectrum. Depression and anxiety disorders are the most frequent mental health problem in the general population and in elite athletes. The aim of the present study was to assess the prevalence of symptoms of depression, generalised anxiety disorder and eating disorders in professional dancers, to compare the results between genders and to the general population and to analyse potential determinants.
methodsDuring a pre-season health screening, professional dancers of six German companies answered a comprehensive questionnaire on personal and dancer-specific characteristics, medical history and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), Generalised Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire (GAD-7) and Eating-Disorder-Examination-Questionnaire (EDE-QS).
resultsA total of 82 (55.8%) female and 65 (44.2%) male dancers answered the questionnaire. One in five (20.8%) dancers had at least moderate symptoms of either depression, generalised anxiety disorder or eating disorders. The prevalence of at least moderate symptoms of depression was 11.1% in female and 6.4% in male dancers, of generalised anxiety disorder 16.0% in female and 6.4% in male dancers and of eating disorders 14.8% in female and 6.1% in male dancers. Compared to the general population of the same gender and similar age, the prevalence of at least moderate symptoms of generalised anxiety disorder was significantly higher in both genders. About one in four dancers (26.9%) reported a subjective need for support from a psychotherapist at the time of the screening. The PHQ-9, GAD-7 and EDE-QS sum scores were not related to the size or type of the companies, the age or rank of the dancers, but the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 sum score were significantly related to severity of musculoskeletal pain in the past seven days and to chronic or recurrent symptoms of low mood and generalised anxiety.
conclusionThe prevalence of symptoms of depression, generalised anxiety and eating disorders was high in professional dancers. Routine screening and low-threshold interventions to improve mental health of professional dancers are recommended.
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