Comparative analysis of the dynamics of motor and personality characteristics of mentally healthy and schizophrenic adults in the course of dance-movement therapy

The article presents the results of a comparative analysis of the dynamics of motor and personality characteristics of mentally healthy adults and those suffering from schizophrenia as a result of dance movement therapy (DMT). 79 people took part in the study, 49 diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia (M = 33,6), 30 mentally healthy people (M = 34,4). The following tests were used: «Assessment of motor coordination» and «Motor speed» by A.A. Tolchinsky, modification of the Dembo-Rubinstein self-esteem test, K. Izard’s method for recognizing emotions, «Body analysis» N.Yu. Oganesyan to study motor and communicative manifestations in the process of dance and movement therapy. Statistical analysis was carried out using the SPSS Statistics package: primary statistics, comparison of means using Student's T-test. Mentally healthy people showed statistically significantly higher results on motor tests (coordination and tempo of movements), personality indicators (self-assessment of health, activity, sociability, self-understanding and the ability to recognize emotions by facial expressions). In dance, mentally healthy people show greater motor freedom, variability and contact than people suffering from schizophrenia. DMT has a similar effect when working with mentally healthy adults and people suffering from schizophrenia, it helps correct motor skills, strengthen self-esteem, and develop the ability to recognize emotions, while the effect in people with mental illness is more pronounced. By the end of DMT, people diagnosed with schizophrenia, due to an increase in motor indicators (coordination and tempo of movements), development of variability and contact in dance, bringing self-esteem of activity and sociability closer to normative values, satisfaction with their lives increased significantly.