Efeitos de uma sessão de dança sobre a ansiedade de indivíduos com deficiência intelectual leve

Abstract

Individuals with Intellectual Deficiency (ID) tend to be more prone to anxiety due to difficulties in developing strategies to deal with stressful events. Studies have investigated different strategies to prevent and combat anxiety, among them the performance of rhythmic activities. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of a dance session on trait anxiety (TA) and state anxiety (AE) of individuals with ID. The study included eight individuals with mild degree ID. Volunteers answered the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) before and after a dance session. AE levels and TA and AE scores were classified and compared before and after physical activity. Data were analyzed by analysis of variance (ANOVA) and means were compared by Tukey's test (p <0.05). AE scores decreased after the dance session (p <0.05). However, the activity did not influence the AT. Before activity 37.5% of subjects were classified with high AE and 62.5% with moderate AE. After the activity, 100% of the participants showed moderate anxiety, demonstrating the efficiency of the dance on this parameter. It was concluded that a single dance session was sufficient to decrease AE levels of individuals with mild ID.