Erkkilä Jaakko, Gold Christian, Fachner Jörg, Ala-Ruona Esa, Punkanen Marko, Vanhala Mauno
University of Jyväskylä, Finnish Centre of Excellence in Interdisciplinary Music Research, Department of Music, P,O Box 35, FI-40014, University of Jyväskylä, Finland.
BMC Psychiatry. 2008 Jun 28;8:50. doi: 10.1186/1471-244X-8-50.
Music therapy is frequently offered to individuals suffering from depression. Despite the lack of research into the effects of music therapy on this population, anecdotal evidence suggests that the results are rather promising. The aim of this study is to examine whether improvisational, psychodynamically orientated music therapy in an individual setting helps reduce symptoms of depression and improve other health-related outcomes. In particular, attention will be given to mediator agents, such as musical expression and interaction in the sessions, as well as to the explanatory potential of EEG recordings in investigating emotion related music perception of individuals with depression.
85 adults (18-50 years of age) with depression (ICD-10: F 32 or F33) will be randomly assigned to an experimental or a control condition. All participants will receive standard care, but the experimental group will be offered biweekly sessions of improvisational music therapy over a period of 3 months. A blind assessor will measure outcomes before testing, after 3 months, and after 6 months.
This study aims to fill a gap in knowledge as to whether active (improvisational) music therapy applied to people with depression improves their condition. For the first time in this context, the mediating processes, such as changes in musical expression and interaction during the course of therapy, will be objectively investigated, and it is expected that the results will provide new insights into these processes. Furthermore, the findings are expected to reveal whether music related emotional experiences, as measured by EEG, can be utilized in assessing a depressive client's improvement in the therapy. The size and the comprehensiveness of the study are sufficient for generalizing its findings to clinical practice as well as to further music therapy research.
ISRCTN84185937.
音乐疗法经常被提供给抑郁症患者。尽管缺乏关于音乐疗法对这一人群影响的研究，但轶事证据表明结果相当有前景。本研究的目的是检验在个体环境中进行的即兴、心理动力学取向的音乐疗法是否有助于减轻抑郁症状并改善其他与健康相关的结果。特别地，将关注中介因素，如治疗过程中的音乐表达和互动，以及脑电图记录在研究抑郁症患者与情绪相关的音乐感知方面的解释潜力。
85名年龄在18至50岁之间的抑郁症患者（国际疾病分类第10版：F32或F33）将被随机分配到实验组或对照组。所有参与者都将接受标准护理，但实验组将在3个月内每两周接受一次即兴音乐治疗。一名盲法评估者将在测试前、3个月后和6个月后测量结果。
本研究旨在填补关于将积极（即兴）音乐疗法应用于抑郁症患者是否能改善其病情这一知识空白。在这种情况下，将首次客观地研究中介过程，如治疗过程中音乐表达和互动的变化，预计结果将为这些过程提供新的见解。此外，研究结果有望揭示通过脑电图测量的与音乐相关的情感体验是否可用于评估抑郁症患者在治疗中的改善情况。该研究的规模和全面性足以将其结果推广到临床实践以及进一步的音乐疗法研究中。
ISRCTN84185937。
