An Empirical Investigation of Dance Addiction

Abstract

Although recreational dancing is associated with increased physical and psychological well-being, little is known about the harmful effects of excessive dancing. The aim of the present study was to explore the psychopathological factors associated with dance addiction. The sample comprised 447 salsa and ballroom dancers (68% female, mean age: 32.8 years) who danced recreationally at least once a week. The Exercise Addiction Inventory (Terry, Szabo, & Griffiths, 2004) was adapted for dance (Dance Addiction Inventory, DAI). Motivation, general mental health (BSI-GSI, and Mental Health Continuum), borderline personality disorder, eating disorder symptoms, and dance motives were also assessed. Five latent classes were explored based on addiction symptoms with 11% of participants belonging to the most problematic class. DAI was positively associated with psychiatric distress, borderline personality and eating disorder symptoms. Hierarchical linear regression model indicated that Intensity (ß=0.22), borderline (ß=0.08), eating disorder (ß=0.11) symptoms, as well as Escapism (ß=0.47) and Mood Enhancement (ß=0.15) (as motivational factors) together explained 42% of DAI scores. Dance addiction as assessed with the Dance Addiction Inventory is associated with indicators of mild psychopathology and therefore warrants further research.

Gender Moderates the Partial Mediation of Impulsivity in the Relationship Between Psychiatric Distress and Problematic Online Gaming: Online Survey (Preprint)

“…These findings provide insight into possible mechanisms by which psychiatric distress may influence POG. The finding that POG was related to psychiatric distress supported H1 and is consistent with prior findings in POG (Ballabio et al, 2017;Kim et al, 2016;Király et al, 2015;Starcevic, Berle, Porter, & Fenech, 2011), as well as findings in other behavioral addictions (Jiménez-Murcia et al, 2017;Maraz, Urbán, Griffiths, & Demetrovics, 2015). The present findings expand upon prior ones through exploration of a role for impulsivity.…”

Too many swipes for today: The development of the Problematic Tinder Use Scale (PTUS)

“…It is clear that – similarly to other recently investigated topics like buying (Rodríguez-Villarino, González-Lorenzo, Fernández-González, Lameiras-Fernández, & Foltz, 2006), dancing (Maráz, Urbán, Griffiths, & Demetrovics, 2015), or studying (Atroszko, Andreassen, Griffiths, & Pallesen, 2015) – problematic Tinder use does not affect a large part of the population (Global Web Index, 2015 cited by McHugh, 2015). It should also be considered that such problematic behaviors do not have the same addictive potential as other substance-related behaviors might have (Potenza, 2015).…”

Dancer perceptions of the cognitive, social, emotional, and physical benefits of modern styles of partnered dancing

“…Additionally, in this study we were primarily concerned with participants’ self-perceptions, and, therefore, we did not collect data from other sources (e.g., ratings from family members, objective testing of physical and cognitive changes). Moreover, the study was conducted with a sample of adults who self-selected into dance intervention, and we did not examine existing psychopathology among participants or potential excessive dancing, which has been shown to be linked with mild psychopathology (Maraz, Urban, Griffiths, & Demetrovics, 2015). …”