Long-term music-listening's effects on blood pressure, heart rate, anxiety, and depression

Listening to music could not only impact physiological responses but also affect psychological indicators. Extensive research has focused on the beneficial effects of music on blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR), respiration rate (RR), anxiety, and depression in predominantly Caucasian samples; how...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of alternative medicine research Vol. 9; no. 1; p. 57
Main Authors Bell, Taunjah P, Akombo, David O
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Hauppauge Nova Science Publishers, Inc 01.01.2017
Subjects
Anxiety
Blood pressure
Heart rate
Hormones
Mental depression
Music therapy
Musicians & conductors
United States > US
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Summary:Listening to music could not only impact physiological responses but also affect psychological indicators. Extensive research has focused on the beneficial effects of music on blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR), respiration rate (RR), anxiety, and depression in predominantly Caucasian samples; however, to date few studies have been designed to determine the influence of long-term music listening on mindfulness in minorities. The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of long-term music listening on BP, HR, anxiety, depression, and mindfulness in African Americans. Two-hundred seventeen adults (156 females and 61 males) under age 25 were assigned at random to one of four conditions (no music, classical, classic jazz, or classic rock and roll music) using a computer-based program and were instructed to listen to music or remain silent for 30 minutes per session four times per week for 12 weeks in our laboratory. Our research findings indicated that participants in the classical music group were more likely to have lower BP and HR measurements, lower anxiety and depression scores, and higher mindfulness scores than individuals who listened to no music, classic jazz, or classic rock and roll. There was a statistically significant difference between music group means on the combined dependent variables (F (3, 213) = 8.923, p = .009; Wilk's Lambda (6, 422) = 2.704, p = .006, partial eta squared = .733, with a large effect size). Results supported the hypothesis tested and suggested that music can be used to promote wellness and enhance cognition.
ISSN:1939-5868