International Journal of Academic Research in Progressive Education and Development

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The Psychological, Physiological and Physical Responses to a 16-Week Dancesport Programme in Female University Students

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Female university students report higher psychological distress and lower physical activity than male peers. Dancesport combines aerobic loading, rhythmic movement, music and partnered interaction, yet psychological, physiological and physical outcomes are seldom tracked together, and existing trials measure only before and after. Eighteen female students aged 18 to 20 years at one vocational university completed a 16-week dancesport programme delivered once weekly for 90 minutes. The design was single-arm with no control group. Eighteen outcomes spanning physical self-perception, activity enjoyment, depression, anxiety, stress, blood pressure, heart rate, flexibility and static balance were assessed at week 0 (T1), week 8 (T2) and week 16 (T3). One-way repeated-measures analysis of variance with Greenhouse-Geisser correction was followed by Bonferroni-adjusted pairwise contrasts, with partial eta squared reported. A main effect of time was detected for sit-and-reach, right-limb stork balance, exercise heart rate, depression, sports competence, anxiety and body attractiveness. Sit-and-reach rose 5.21 cm from T1 to T3 (p = .002), right-limb balance rose 17.80 s from T1 to T2 (p = .004), and exercise heart rate fell 11.17 beats per minute from T1 to T2 (p = .016). All seven main effects exceeded the conventional benchmark for a large effect (?p² = .14) and were largest for the physical outcomes, although the psychological effects did not localise to any single interval after adjustment. Blood pressure, resting pulse, stress and enjoyment did not change. Flexibility, unilateral balance, exercise heart rate and selected psychological outcomes improved, whereas enjoyment, stress and blood pressure did not. Balance, exercise heart rate and depression shifted by week 8, whereas flexibility and anxiety shifted only by week 16. Absent a control group, findings are hypothesis-generating.
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