The Relationship between Passion and Injury in Dance Students

Abstract

The present study explored whether dancers exhibit distinct injury profiles and injury-related coping behaviors as a function of their passion for dance. Results from 81 student dancers suggest that having a harmonious passion for dance is associated with suffering less from acute injuries, exhibiting more problem-focused health-promoting and less health-undermining coping behaviors when injured, being more flexibly involved in dance activities when injured, and engaging in self-initiated injury prevention. Obsessive passion for dance, on the other hand, is associated with prolonged suffering from chronic injuries, more rigid involvement in dance activities when injured, and the tendency to report that pride is a major factor preventing one from obtaining adequate treatment. Thus, it appears that obsessive passion for dance may constitute a risk factor for sustaining chronic injuries, and that harmonious passion is the more optimal motivational foundation for long-term, healthful involvement in dance.