Musical Attention Control Training for Psychotic Psychiatric Patients: An Experimental Pilot Study in a Forensic Psychiatric Hospital

Abstract

Poor attention skills constitute a major problem for psychiatric patients with psychotic symptoms, and increase their chances of treatment drop-out. This study investigated possible benefits of musical attention control training (MACT). To examine the effect of MACT on attention skills of psychiatric patients with psychotic features a randomized controlled trial (RCT) was conducted in a forensic psychiatric clinic. Participants ( N = 35, age M = 34.7, 69% male) were pair matched (on age, gender, and educational level), and randomly assigned to an experimental and control group. The experimental group received a 30-min MACT training once a week over 6 weeks’ time, whereas the controls received treatment as usual without attention training. Single blind pre- and post-neuropsychological assessments were performed to measure different attention levels. The experimental MACT group outperformed the control group in selective, sustained and alternating attention. In addition, overall attendance of MACT participants was high (87.1%). This result suggests that in this experimental pilot study MACT was effective for attention skills of psychiatric patients with psychotic features. To obtain larger intervention effects additional research is necessary, with a larger sample and a more specific MACT intervention.

Neurologic Music Therapy in Geriatric Rehabilitation: A Systematic Review

“…The researchers used the fact that music allows for the correction of step frequency and improvement of gait pattern, mainly through the action of auditory motor feedback to reduce stress, both motor and psychological. File S4 [ 4 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 ,…”

Offender treatment program limitations with those who have complex needs: exploring the role for music therapy

“…Although there is a lack of research examining the efficacy of music therapy for this specific population (Hakvoort et al , 2015), music therapy is being implemented in prison and forensic settings (Sicard, 2021). Moreover, the existing research in recent years has offered promising results with offender populations, including those with complex needs (Kellett et al , 2018; Macfarlane et al , 2019; van Alphen et al , 2019; Frederiksen et al , 2020).…”

“…The study also reported that the program was simple to implement, there was a significantly low drop-out rate and offenders were satisfied with the program (Kellett et al , 2018). Moreover, there are several studies that have demonstrated promising results for music therapy programs for forensic patients with schizophrenia (Compton Dickinson and Hakvoort, 2017; van Alphen et al , 2019; Frederiksen et al , 2020) and for those with other serious mental illnesses such as borderline personality disorder (Walker and Paton, 2014). Therefore, while there is limited research for music therapy for HROs with complex needs, the existing research has demonstrated several key benefits for offending cohorts with complex needs.…”

Short-Term Music Therapy Attention and Arousal Regulation Treatment (SMAART) for Prisoners with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Feasibility Study

“…This is the first report of a music therapy intervention targeting attention and diminishing arousal in an adult male penitentiary psychiatric population diagnosed with PTSD. In a pilot study in a forensic psychiatric hospital Van Alphen, Stams, and Hakvoort (2019) found that MACT had a positive effect on attention skills, but that study was not directed at targeting PTSD Cutoff score is for DSM-IV-R diagnosis of PTSD = 15, maximum score is 51 *Effect size measured as a decline (-) or increase (+) in percentage of PTSD-symptoms compared to entrance screening.…”