Coping with Stress: The Effectiveness of Different Types of Music (original) (raw)
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The mechanism of music for reducing psychological stress: Music preference as a mediator
The Arts in Psychotherapy, 2016
In order to examine the mechanisms through which music might alleviate psychological stress, a study of the effects of music listening following induced stress was conducted. Female music education students (N = 200) were randomly assigned to eight groups, after experiencing induced stress via a mental arithmetic test. Individuals in each group listened through headphones to one piece of music classified in terms of the levels of arousal and valence of music, and familiarity. Participants rated their tension and state anxiety levels before and after music listening, as well as their levels of valence and arousal for music, music preference, and familiarity, after listening. The results revealed that the levels of arousal and valence, and the degree of music preference predicted tension and state anxiety levels, and the effects of music valence and arousal on stress reduction were partially mediated by music preference. The most important factor in reducing stress was the degree of liking for the music, but not the degree of familiarity with the music. Our findings have important implications for individuals, and clinicians, who use music to reduce stress.
The effects of sedative and stimulative music on stress reduction depend on music preference
The Arts in Psychotherapy, 2013
To examine the effects of sedative and stimulative music and music preference on stress reduction when participants are exposed to a stressor, 144 female music education students performed a stressful, mental arithmetic test. After the stress was induced successfully, participants were randomly assigned to four experimental groups. They listened to preferred sedative music, preferred stimulative music, unpreferred sedative music, and unpreferred stimulative music, respectively. Tension and state-anxiety levels were obtained after listening to music. The results revealed that participants who listened to sedative music showed significantly lower tension and state-anxiety levels than did those who listened to stimulative music when music was unpreferred. However, there was no significant difference of tension and stateanxiety levels between listening to sedative music and stimulative music when music was preferred. These findings demonstrate that the effects of sedative and stimulative music on stress reduction depend on music preference. Our study has important implications for the practice of clinical music therapy since it provides strong support for the use of preferred music when working to reduce patient stress.
Journal of Adult Development, 2011
Myths about the power of music to regulate and change emotional states are found in each culture. Googling the words ''music and stress'' produces promises for different types of music specially designed to assist managing stress. Music therapists are familiar with using different techniques to reduce stress with different populations. This paper examines both the application of music to stress management and the neurological and physiological mechanisms of stress that can be modulated by music.
Stress Reduction From a Musical Intervention
Research suggests that music can affect mood and physiological states . The extant literature has mainly focused on long-term changes in self-report measures resulting from several sessions of music intervention (but see Jiang, Zhou, Pelletier, 2004 for review). The purpose of this study was to expand the previous work in three major ways. First, the stress-reducing effects of music listening versus musical improvisation on a xylophone were compared. Second, psychophysiological measures of stress were utilized in addition to self-report measures. Third, stress reduction effects were measured in one session. A total of 105 participants completed a stressor task and were then assigned to one of three recovery conditions: control (CG), music listening (ML), or music improvisation (MI). The ML and MI groups were expected to exhibit greater stress reduction (evidenced by behavioral and physiological measures) than the CG. Self-report and skin conductance (electrodermal activity; EDA) measures were used to assess response during the stressor task and recovery session. Results indicated that participants exhibited a significant increase in stress response as a result of the stressor task. Although self-report measures indicated that mood improved during the recovery session, the MI group exhibited only differential effects for levels of satisfaction. The physiological data showed greater stress reduction for the ML condition as compared with the CG and MI group.
2018
Background: Everyday stressors—the stressful, irritating, and disturbing events that happen in the context of everyday life—are common. Due negative health outcomes associated with stress, people are increasingly interested in the possibility of using non-invasive approaches, such as music listening, to mediate stress (MacDonald, 2013). Although inconsistent results have been reported (Linnemann, Ditzen, Strahler, Doerr & Nater, 2015), experimental and laboratory-based research implicates that music can play a role in relieving stress (e.g., Beck, Hansen, & Gold, 2015; Radstaak, Geurts, Brosschot, & Kompier, 2014). However, little research has specifically considered the relationship between everyday stressors and everyday music listening. Aims: The primary aim of this research was to consider how music listening is used as a coping mechanism for different types of everyday stressors. The relationship between the use of music listening to cope with everyday stressors and listener characteristics (including age, gender, country of residence, listening style, and device use) was also examined. Method: Five hundred and fifty-three participants residing in Australia, USA, and Malaysia (Mage = 24.49; 69.30% female, 30.60% male, 0.20% non-binary) completed a quantitative questionnaire online. The questionnaire included demographic questions and measures concerning daily stressors (Kohn & MacDonald, 1992), music engagement (Greenberg & Rentfrow, 2015; Miranda & Claes, 2009), and music identity (Krause & Hargreaves, 2013). Results: Firstly, a factor analysis identified five types of everyday stressors: “social”, “financial”, “performance responsibilities”, “work-related”, and “daily displeasures”. A one-way repeated measure ANOVA indicated that individuals were significantly less likely to use music to cope with financial everyday stressors than use music with regard to the other four stressor types, and individuals were significantly more likely to listen to cope with social and work-related stressors than to cope with performance responsibilities and daily displeasures. A Generalized Linear Mixed Model analysis indicated that younger individuals were more likely to use music to cope with daily stressors than older individuals and that US residents were more likely to listen to music to cope with stressors when compared to both Australian and Malaysian residents. Moreover, the results of a second Generalized Linear Mixed Model analysis revealed that individuals who listen to more hours of music daily on average and those who demonstrate a stronger affective listening style are more likely to listen to music in order to cope with everyday stressors. Conclusions: Together, these results provide an in-depth understanding of everyday music listening behaviors with regard to how individuals use music to cope with stress. These results concern the use of music for therapeutic self-regulation and have implications for both individuals and health professionals. Further research will be able to consider the utility of music listening as a self-administered coping tool, relative to people’s intentions and its effectiveness, as well as develop specific intervention strategies to promote well-being.
Effects of music interventions on stress-related outcomes: a systematic review and two meta-analyses
Health Psychology Review
Music interventions are used for stress reduction in a variety of settings because of the positive effects of music listening on both physiological arousal (e.g., heart rate, blood pressure, and hormonal levels) and psychological stress experiences (e.g., restlessness, anxiety, and nervousness). To summarize the growing body of empirical research, two multilevel meta-analyses of 104 RCTs, containing 327 effect sizes and 9,617 participants, were performed to assess the strength of the effects of music interventions on both physiological and psychological stress-related outcomes, and to test the potential moderators of the intervention effects. Results showed that music interventions had an overall significant effect on stress reduction in both physiological (d = .380) and psychological (d = .545) outcomes. Further, moderator analyses showed that the type of outcome assessment moderated the effects of music interventions on stress-related outcomes. Larger effects were found on heart rate (d = .456), compared to blood pressure (d = .343) and hormone levels (d = .349). Implications for stress-reducing music interventions are discussed.
Music Hath Charms The Effects of Valence and Arousal on Recovery Following an Acute Stressor
Music and Medicine, 2010
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the valence and arousal dimensions of music over the time course of physiological (skin conductance level and heart rate) and subjective (Subjective Unit of Discomfort score) recovery from an acute stressor. Participants experienced stress after being told to prepare a speech, and were then exposed to happy, peaceful, sad, or agitated music. Music with a positive valence promoted both subjective and physiological recovery better than music with a negative valence, and low-arousal music was more effective than high-arousal music. Repeated measures analyses found that the emotion conveyed by the music affected skin conductance level recovery immediately following the stressor, whereas it affected heart rate recovery in a more sustained fashion. Follow-up tests found that positively valenced low-arousal (i.e., peaceful) music was more effective across the time course than an emotionally neutral control (white noise).
Musicae Scientiae, 2023
Everyday stressors—the irritating and disturbing events that happen in the context of everyday life—are common. The present research examined the relationship between everyday stressors and the use of music listening as a coping mechanism. In particular, it examined the use of music listening to cope with different types of everyday stressor and examined the relationship between this usage and listener characteristics, including demographics and music engagement style. Participants in the USA, Australia, and Malaysia (N =553) completed an online survey. A factor analysis was used to identify five types of everyday stressor: Social, Financial, Performance Responsibilities, Work-related, and Daily Displeasures. Individuals listened to music significantly more often to cope with social and work-related stressors than performance responsibilities and daily displeasures. Moreover, individuals who demonstrated a stronger affective listening style and those who reported listening to music for emotion/problem-orientated and avoidance/disengagement reasons were found to listen to music most often to cope with everyday stressors. These findings have implications, for both listeners and health professionals, when considering how music listening can be used as a self-administered tool for coping with everyday stressors.