Developing an effective music listening intervention for anxiety

Anxiety disorders are a global concern and university students are considered a population at risk of experiencing anxiety. To address this, treatments which target anxious symptoms, are low cost, and accessible to all are urgently needed. Focused music listening is a promising tool to address anxiety and involves listening to recorded or live music. There is a need to understand specifically the relationship between music listening and naturally occurring, state anxiety, which was the first aim of the following work. An initial systematic review and meta-analysis of existing controlled empirical research was conducted and a large significant effect for music listening was demonstrated (d = -.77). This study highlighted a gap regarding social context, which was the second aim of the following work. To address this, two experimental studies were conducted to directly compare the impact of individual and group music listening on anxiety. Findings showed reduced anxiety after listening to music, and that both individual and group music listening were successful in alleviating anxiety in university students. Following this, a cross-sectional, multinational survey was administered during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic. The aim of this study was to understand the role of music listening and anxiety during a time when social contact was limited to reduce the spread of coronavirus. Findings showed that those who rated music as more important to them during the pandemic relative to before, were also experiencing heightened levels of anxiety. Additionally, open text responses provided information surrounding the use of music listening for mood enhancement, and the positivity and connection experienced when listening to music with others. The final study was novel by incorporating a mapping activity in tandem with instrumental music listening, which was utilised to address postgraduate student anxiety. This online group music listening intervention was successful in reducing anxiety and qualitative interviews investigating participants’ experiences revealed the uplifting effects of the music, an increased self-awareness, and comfort through shared experience. It was concluded that music listening is an effective intervention for anxiety which is accessible, cost effective and easy to administer. Future work may consider comparing different forms of social support in the context of music listening to reduce anxiety, and consider longitudinal research methods to examine the potential for lasting effects of music listening on alleviating anxiety.