Movement through motherhood: Exploring mood, wellbeing, and prenatal emotional availability (EA) through EA‐based dance intervention

Abstract

Emotional availability (EA) is a construct that describes the observed emotional connection in parent‐child relationships. During pregnancy, EA is assessed only using caregiver sensitivity and nonhostility. We used the nonverbal aspects of these qualities to create a new dance/movement intervention (“EA‐Based Dance Intervention”). Given the scarcity of pregnancy interventions, we provided training to participants on how to be emotionally engaged with their unborn babies through dance/movement. The EA‐Based Dance Intervention alone comprised the first intervention arm (n = 12). A second intervention arm involved the combination of EA‐Based Dance Intervention with brief psychoeducation (n = 10). The third arm was a control group, which received only the assessments (n = 7). Measures of self‐reported symptoms of depression and anxiety, emotional expressivity, flourishing, and the (newly developed) self‐reported prenatal EA were used at pre‐ and posttest. The measure of observed prenatal EA was used to compare intervention versus control at posttest only. In this pilot study, we found that participants receiving the EA‐Based Dance Intervention alone or combined with psychoeducation, self‐reported improved anxiety symptoms and self‐reported higher prenatal EA. When compared with the control group, those experiencing EA‐Based Dance Intervention reported fewer depressive symptoms from pre‐ to posttest.