Reviewing the Effectiveness of Music Interventions in Treating Depression

Abstract

Depression is a very common mood disorder, resulting in a loss of social function, reduced quality of life and increased mortality. Music interventions have been shown to be a potential alternative for depression therapy but the number of up-to-date research literature is quite limited. We present a review of original research trials which utilize music or music therapy as intervention to treat participants with depressive symptoms. Our goal was to differentiate the impact of certain therapeutic uses of music used in the various experiments. Randomized controlled study designs were preferred but also longitudinal studies were chosen to be included. 28 studies with a total number of 1,810 participants met our inclusion criteria and were finally selected. We distinguished between passive listening to music (record from a CD or live music) (79%), and active singing, playing, or improvising with instruments (46%). Within certain boundaries of variance an analysis of similar studies was attempted. Critical parameters were for example length of trial, number of sessions, participants' age, kind of music, active or passive participation and single- or group setting. In 26 studies, a statistically significant reduction in depression levels was found over time in the experimental (music intervention) group compared to a control (n = 25) or comparison group (n = 2). In particular, elderly participants showed impressive improvements when they listened to music or participated in music therapy projects. Researchers used group settings more often than individual sessions and our results indicated a slightly better outcome for those cases. Additional questionnaires about participants confidence, self-esteem or motivation, confirmed further improvements after music treatment. Consequently, the present review offers an extensive set of comparable data, observations about the range of treatment options these papers addressed, and thus might represent a valuable aid for future projects for the use of music-based interventions to improve symptoms of depression.

Music-Enhanced Analgesia and Antiseizure Activities in Animal Models of Pain and Epilepsy: Toward Preclinical Studies Supporting Development of Digital Therapeutics and Their Combinations With Pharmaceutical Drugs

“…Since digital technologies can deliver music-based interventions (20), these opportunities are relevant for treatments of pain, epilepsy, stroke, dementia, and other chronic medical conditions (21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27). Music showed clinical benefits of reducing acute and chronic pain (25)(26)(27).…”

The effect of music intervention on patients with cancer‐related pain: A systematic review and meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials

“…During active music interventions, patients are actively involved in music-making such as singing, body percussion, music lessons, improvised or written music, and instrument playing. Passive music interventions consist of listening to live or recorded music selected by the therapist or patients (Leubner & Hinterberger, 2017;van der Steen et al, 2018;Tang & Vezeau, 2010).…”

Aprendizaje servicio: diálogo universidad y sociedad

“…No obstante, son necesarios estudios longitudinales para analizar si la música mejora los niveles de ansiedad y depresión debido a que literatura disponible es limitada y es por ello que se hace hincapié en la necesidad de realizar más estudios para aunar masa crítica en torno a esta temática (Geipel et al, 1998;Leubner y Hinterberger, 2017). Asimismo, sería interesante analizar si los participantes de mayor edad muestran mejoras más significativas, cuando escuchan música de forma pasiva y si hay diferencias a cuándo participan de forma activa.…”

“…Asimismo, sería interesante analizar si los participantes de mayor edad muestran mejoras más significativas, cuando escuchan música de forma pasiva y si hay diferencias a cuándo participan de forma activa. Además, sería interesante analizar si la configuración grupal muestra mejoras más relevantes en angustia psicológica y otras variables de interés (p.e., autoeficacia), que las configuraciones individuales, tal y como apuntan Leubner y Hinterberger (2017). Por otro lado, futuros estudios deberían combinar grupos de música tales como coros de mujeres en edad de jubilación [p.e., vinculados a Hogares de Mayores (IASS)], jóvenes con discapacidad intelectual [p.e.…”

“…Recientes revisiones y meta análisis inciden en la importancia de la música en la depresión (Leubner y Hinterberger, 2017) y en la ansiedad (Geipel et al, 1998), incluso se le atribuyen mejoras en cognición (memoria, atención, lenguaje), emoción y comportamiento (ansiedad, depresión y agitación) de enfermos de alzhéimer (García-Casares, Moreno-Leiva y Garcia-Arnes, 2017). Así, la revisión de Leubner y Hinterberger (2017) indicó que las intervenciones musicales han mostrado ser una alternativa potencial para la terapia de la depresión, pero el número de literatura de investigación actualizada es bastante limitado y es por ello que se hace hincapié en la necesidad de más estudios que aporten luz en relación a los beneficios concretos de la misma (Geipel et al, 1998;Leubner y Hinterberger, 2017). Concretamente, Leubner y Hinterberger (2017) analizaron 28 estudios longitudinales con un total de 1.810 participantes distinguiendo entre escuchar pasivamente música (79%) y cantar, tocar o improvisar con instrumentos activos (46%).…”