IADMS New York 2002   [back to the Category]

Psychological and Social Factors Associated With Performance-Limiting Injuries in Professional Balle   [read the french version]

Author :   Maya Adam Glenn S. Brassington, PhD

Psychological and Social Factors Associated With
Performance-Limiting Injuries in Professional Ballet Dancers

Maya Adam
Glenn S. Brassington, PhD
Stanford University School of Medicine
Stanford, California, USA


Purpose: Recent epidemiological research has revealed a high incidence of injuries among professional ballet dancers. Although numerous studies have demonstrated a reliable association between psychosocial factors and sports injuries, few studies have examined psychological variables associated with dance injuries. The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between a broad range of psychosocial variables and performance-limiting physical injuries in a sample of elite ballet dancers in order to identify potential factors that could be included in interventions to prevent and treat dance injuries.

Method: Participants were 30 female and 24 male (mean age 26.59 years; SD= 6.2 years) ballet dancers, representing 20 countries, from one of Germany’s largest professional ballet companies. Participants were asked to complete a battery of questionnaires including: a demographics questionnaire, the Cohen Perceived Stress Scale, Arousal Predisposition Scale, the Social Support Appraisal Scale, the Profile of Mood States, and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Percent of performance and rehearsal days missed due to injury was computed as follows:
(# of days missed due to injury/scheduled days) X 100.
To identify potential correlates of injuries, Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients were computed between the injury variable and each of the psychosocial variables.

Results: Absence due to injury was significantly positively correlated with stress, arousability, sleep disturbances, daytime sleepiness, and negative mood states (i.e., tension, depression, anger, fatigue, and confusion). However, absence due to injury was significantly negatively associated with social support (see attached table).

Conclusion: Future intervention studies are needed to explore the effect of reducing psychological distress and increasing social support within the dance company on the prevention of injuries and the treatment of injured dancers.

Table

Pearson Product-moment correlations between study variables and % of time dancers were injured.
r p<
Social Support -.29 .02
Stress .60 .001
Arousability .35 .01
Tension-anxiety .41 .001
Depression-dejection .41 .001
Anger-hostility .32 .01
Vigor -.26 .03
Fatigue .26 .03
Confusion .44 .001
Global Sleep Quality -.45 .001
Sleep Quality -.32 .01
Sleep Onset Latency .44 .001
Sleep Duration -.37 .01
Sleep Efficiency -.39 .01
Sleep Disturbances .21 .07
Daytime Sleepiness .50 .001