Finding therapeutic music for anxiety using scoring model

Uncovering potential distinctive acoustic features of healing music

Background

Music therapy is a promising complementary intervention for addressing various mental health conditions. Despite evidence of the beneficial effects of music, the acoustic features that make music effective in therapeutic contexts remain elusive.

Aims

This study aimed to identify and validate distinctive acoustic features of healing music.

Methods

We constructed a healing music dataset (HMD) based on nominations from related professionals and extracted 370 acoustic features. Healing-distinctive acoustic features were identified as those that were (1) independent from genre within the HMD, (2) significantly different from music pieces in a classical music dataset (CMD) and (3) similar to pieces in a five-element music dataset (FEMD). We validated the identified features by comparing jazz pieces in the HMD with a jazz music dataset (JMD). We also examined the emotional properties of the features in a Chinese affective music system (CAMS).

Results

The HMD comprised 165 pieces. Among all the acoustic features, 74.59% shared commonalities across genres, and 26.22% significantly differed between the HMD classical pieces and the CMD. The equivalence test showed that the HMD and FEMD did not differ significantly in 9.46% of the features. The potential healing-distinctive acoustic features were identified as the standard deviation of the roughness, mean and period entropy of the third coefficient of the mel-frequency cepstral coefficients. In a three-dimensional space defined by these features, HMD's jazz pieces could be distinguished from those of the JMD. These three features could significantly predict both subjective valence and arousal ratings in the CAMS.

Conclusions

The distinctive acoustic features of healing music that have been identified and validated in this study have implications for the development of artificial intelligence models for identifying therapeutic music, particularly in contexts where access to professional expertise may be limited. This study contributes to the growing body of research exploring the potential of digital technologies for healthcare interventions.

Music-based casual video game training alleviates symptoms of subthreshold depression

Objectives

In this preregistered study, we investigated the beneficial effects of music-based casual video game training on the depression, anxiety and stress symptoms in a cohort of young individuals with subthreshold depression and the underlying mechanisms.

Methods

The study included 56 young individuals (18–26 years of age) with subthreshold or mild depression based on the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) scores between 14 and 19. They were randomly assigned into the experimental group (n = 28) or the control group (n = 28). The experimental group underwent music-based casual video game training for 4 weeks. During the same time, the control group participants conducted daily life activities without any intervention. The study participants in the two groups were analyzed using the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) during the baseline before the intervention, as well as DASS-21, Positive and negative Affect Scale (PANAS), General Self-efficacy Scale (GSES), and the Emotional Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) twice a week during the 4 weeks of intervention.

Results

The depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms were significantly reduced in the experimental group participants after 4 weeks of music-based video game training compared with the control group. The DAS scores in the experimental group were alleviated in the third and fourth weeks of training compared with the control group. Moreover, analysis using the general linear model demonstrated that the number of training weeks and self-efficacy were associated with significant reduction in depression, anxiety and stress. Furthermore, our results demonstrated that self-efficacy was correlated with positive emotion and emotional regulation.

Conclusion

Our study showed that music-based casual video game training significantly decreased depression, anxiety, and stress in the young individuals with subthreshold depression by enhancing self-efficacy.