Is Dance Challenging Our Definitions of Self-Harm?

Objectives: Although there is anecdotal evidence that dance students may be at risk of self-harm, no research has investigated self-harm in this population. A barrier to furthering our understanding of self-harm is a lack of agreement on what constitutes self-harm (Hetrick et al., 2020). The present study provided a novel investigation of how dance teachers define self-harm to provide a framework for responding to their concerns about self-harm in students.
Design: Cross-sectional exploratory qualitative design.
Methods: Self-selection sampling resulted in seven dance teachers taking part in semi-structured interviews to discuss their understanding of self-harm. The data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.
Results: Dance teachers defined self-harm as a coping mechanism for handling a range of stressors including academic pressure, intense emotions, interpersonal problems, family stressors, mental health problems and feelings of low self-worth and self-esteem. Alongside the traditional view that self-harm consists of physical harm, teachers considered mental harm (e.g., negative self-talk and lack of self-care) as well as disordered eating as forms of self-harm. While most stressors reported were external to dance, dance teachers recognized that the distinct nature of dance education that encourages self-critique, the use of dance uniforms and costumes, pushing oneself physically and the demands of pursuing a career within dance could have unique implications for self-harm in dance students.
Conclusions: Dance teachers' concerns around self-harm are not adequately covered by current definitions of self-harm. To provide applicable safeguarding guidance for self-harm in dance, a dance-informed view of what constitutes self-harm needs to be adopted.