Music therapy for stress reduction: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Music therapy is increasingly being used as an intervention for stress reduction in both medical and mental healthcare settings. Music therapy is characterized by personally tailored music interventions initiated by a trained and qualified music therapist, which distinguishes music therapy from other music interventions, such as 'music medicine', which concerns mainly music listening interventions offered by healthcare professionals. To summarize the growing body of empirical research on music therapy, a multilevel meta-analysis, containing 47 studies, 76 effect sizes and 2.747 participants, was performed to assess the strength of the effects of music therapy on both physiological and psychological stress-related outcomes, and to test potential moderators of the intervention effects. Results showed that music therapy showed an overall medium-to-large effect on stress-related outcomes (d = .723, [.51-.94]). Larger effects were found for clinical controlled trials (CCT) compared to randomized controlled trials (RCT), waiting list controls instead of care as usual (CAU) or other stress-reducing interventions, and for studies conducted in Non-Western countries compared to Western countries. Implications for both music therapy and future research are discussed.

From Therapeutic Factors to Mechanisms of Change in the Creative Arts Therapies: A Scoping Review

“…Overall, the results provided insights into the role and function of the specific and joint factors in CATs such as embodiment, concretization, symbolism, and metaphors. The results also identified mixed therapeutic factors (Koch, 2014;Wiedenhofer and Koch, 2017;De Witte et al, 2020b), involving the reinforcement of common psychotherapy factors. However, these instances are also connected to intra-and inter-artistic factors within and between each discipline.…”

“…Although the growing number of systematic reviews and meta-analyses of the CATs reflect the increase in individual studies examining the effects of CATs on psychological and physiological outcomes (e.g., Koch et al, 2019 ; De Witte et al, 2020b ), little is known about which change factors of the CATs lead to or impact certain health outcomes. To better understand the CATs-related factors leading to therapeutic change in both physiological and psychological outcomes, we conducted a scoping review of published empirical studies to contribute to disseminating the existing evidence and guide future research.…”

“…Since previous systematic reviews have mainly focused on the impact of the effects of CATs interventions on certain outcomes (e.g., Van Lith, 2016 ; Koch et al, 2019 ; Orkibi and Feniger-Schaal, 2019 ; De Witte et al, 2020b ; Feniger-Schaal and Orkibi, 2020 ), it is worthwhile gaining more insights into how, why, and when CATs interventions lead to certain outcomes. The present study consists of a scoping review of the literature followed by an in-depth analysis of the therapeutic factors and mechanisms of change.…”

Complementary and Alternative Therapy for Pain and Anxiety in Cardiovascular Disease: A Literature Review

“…The results of the meta-analysis also showed that music therapy was effective in reducing stress and there were no significant side effects (38). Another advantage of music therapy is that it is a non-drug treatment that is safe, easy to apply and economical so that it can relieve pain, anxiety and depression in post-CABG surgery patients (37).…”

Music Therapy for the Treatment of Patients With COVID-19

“…8 – 12 Music has been shown to reduce anxiety, fear, depression, and stress. 13 In addition, music has been shown to increase feelings of happiness and well-being. 14 …”