Dance Mental Health App

NCT07219095 | Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: 812643
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 50
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This project aims to enhance self-compassion in adolescent dancers recovering from a foot and ankle injury by incorporating the use of a mental health intervention app using gamified design during their recovery.

Conditions

Ankle Injury; Foot Injury; Lower Extremity Injury

Keywords

dance; self-compassion

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Number (or percentage) of participants who have returned to full, unrestricted dance after injury

  Will be assessed as part of the clinical exam by asking current return to dance status

  3, 6 and 12 months.

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Measures of Pediatric Anxiety, Depressive Symptoms, Pain Interference, and Mobility questionnaire

  enrollment, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, 18 months, and 24 months

• Self Compassion Scale (SCS) - Short Form questionnaire

  enrollment, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, 18 months, and 24 months

• Foot and Ankle Ability Measure (FAAM) Activities of Daily Living subscale and Sports Subscale questionnaire

  enrollment, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, 18 months, and 24 months

Study Arms (2)

SuperBetter Arm

EXPERIMENTAL

Those randomized into the treatment group will be completing gamified mental health exercises in an app called SuperBetter for 10 minutes, 5 days per week, for 12 weeks alongside physical therapy.

Device: Mental Health App

Control Arm

NO INTERVENTION

Those randomized into the observation group need only attend their physical therapy appointments and complete the questionnaires but will not use the mental health app.

Interventions

Mental Health App DEVICE

Participants will use the SuperBetter mobile app to participate in gamified mental health activities 5 days per week, 10 minutes per day, for 12 weeks alongside their physical therapy.

SuperBetter Arm

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 13 Years - 18 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Provision of informed consent (adult participant), or consent of parent/legal guardian in conjunction with adolescent assent (minor participant)
• to 18 years of age
• Endorses dance as their primary sport, or participates 3 days per week or greater in dance prior to injury
• Stated willingness to comply with all study procedures including the intervention regimen and availability for the duration of the study
• Access to a device with which the SuperBetter app can be downloaded and used

You may not qualify if:

• Dance is not a primary sport or less than 3 days per week spent dancing prior to injury (skater, gymnast, other sport)
• Requiring surgery or prior surgery for the injury being treated
• Injury outside of the leg below the knee
• Known eating disorder or bone density issue (documented abnormal Z score and/or eating disorder diagnosis upon review of the medical chart)
• Verbalized plans to not return to dance after recovery from the injury

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of California, San Diego: lead
• Sanford Scholars Program Mentor Funding: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Rady Children's Hospital

San Diego, California, 92123, United States

RECRUITING

Related Publications (11)

• Christino MA, Fantry AJ, Vopat BG. Psychological Aspects of Recovery Following Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction. J Am Acad Orthop Surg. 2015 Aug;23(8):501-9. doi: 10.5435/JAAOS-D-14-00173.

  PMID: 26209145 BACKGROUND

• Gennarelli SM, Brown SM, Mulcahey MK. Psychosocial interventions help facilitate recovery following musculoskeletal sports injuries: a systematic review. Phys Sportsmed. 2020 Nov;48(4):370-377. doi: 10.1080/00913847.2020.1744486. Epub 2020 Mar 25.

  PMID: 32186423 BACKGROUND

• Walter HJ, Bukstein OG, Abright AR, Keable H, Ramtekkar U, Ripperger-Suhler J, Rockhill C. Clinical Practice Guideline for the Assessment and Treatment of Children and Adolescents With Anxiety Disorders. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2020 Oct;59(10):1107-1124. doi: 10.1016/j.jaac.2020.05.005. Epub 2020 May 18.

  PMID: 32439401 BACKGROUND

• Neff KD, Toth-Kiraly I, Yarnell LM, Arimitsu K, Castilho P, Ghorbani N, Guo HX, Hirsch JK, Hupfeld J, Hutz CS, Kotsou I, Lee WK, Montero-Marin J, Sirois FM, de Souza LK, Svendsen JL, Wilkinson RB, Mantzios M. Examining the factor structure of the Self-Compassion Scale in 20 diverse samples: Support for use of a total score and six subscale scores. Psychol Assess. 2019 Jan;31(1):27-45. doi: 10.1037/pas0000629. Epub 2018 Aug 20.

  PMID: 30124303 BACKGROUND

• Worthen-Chaudhari L, McGonigal J, Logan K, Bockbrader MA, Yeates KO, Mysiw WJ. Reducing concussion symptoms among teenage youth: Evaluation of a mobile health app. Brain Inj. 2017;31(10):1279-1286. doi: 10.1080/02699052.2017.1332388. Epub 2017 Jun 30.

  PMID: 28665690 BACKGROUND

• Psihogios AM, Stiles-Shields C, Neary M. The Needle in the Haystack: Identifying Credible Mobile Health Apps for Pediatric Populations during a Pandemic and beyond. J Pediatr Psychol. 2020 Nov 1;45(10):1106-1113. doi: 10.1093/jpepsy/jsaa094.

  PMID: 33068424 BACKGROUND

• Semenchuk BN, Strachan SM, Fortier M. Self-Compassion and the Self-Regulation of Exercise: Reactions to Recalled Exercise Setbacks. J Sport Exerc Psychol. 2018 Feb 1;40(1):31-39. doi: 10.1123/jsep.2017-0242. Epub 2018 Mar 26.

  PMID: 29580155 BACKGROUND

• Neff KD, Bluth K, Toth-Kiraly I, Davidson O, Knox MC, Williamson Z, Costigan A. Development and Validation of the Self-Compassion Scale for Youth. J Pers Assess. 2021 Jan-Feb;103(1):92-105. doi: 10.1080/00223891.2020.1729774. Epub 2020 Mar 3.

  PMID: 32125190 BACKGROUND

• Bantjes J, Hunt X, Cuijpers P, Kazdin AE, Kennedy CJ, Luedtke A, Malenica I, Petukhova M, Sampson N, Zainal NH, Davids C, Dunn-Coetzee M, Gerber R, Stein DJ, Kessler RC. Comparative effectiveness of remote digital gamified and group CBT skills training interventions for anxiety and depression among college students: Results of a three-arm randomised controlled trial. Behav Res Ther. 2024 Jul;178:104554. doi: 10.1016/j.brat.2024.104554. Epub 2024 May 3.

  PMID: 38714104 BACKGROUND

• Noh YE, Morris T, Andersen MB. Psychological intervention programs for reduction of injury in ballet dancers. Res Sports Med. 2007 Jan-Mar;15(1):13-32. doi: 10.1080/15438620600987064.

  PMID: 17365949 BACKGROUND

• van Winden D, van Rijn RM, Savelsbergh GJP, Oudejans RRD, Stubbe JH. The Association Between Stress and Injury: A Prospective Cohort Study Among 186 First-Year Contemporary Dance Students. Front Psychol. 2021 Nov 5;12:770494. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.770494. eCollection 2021.

  PMID: 34803856 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Ankle Injuries; Foot Injuries

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Leg Injuries; Wounds and Injuries

Central Study Contacts

Emily O Cidambi, MD

CONTACT

858-576-1700; ecidambi@rchsd.org

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Orthopedic Surgeon

Model Details: Concurrent mental health intervention with the SuperBetter app synchronously with physical therapy rehab from a lower extremity injury in dancers

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: August 25, 2025
• First Posted: October 21, 2025
• Study Start: November 15, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): November 15, 2029
• Study Completion (Estimated): November 15, 2029
• Last Updated: October 21, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-10

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)