Gaebel Christine, Jarczok Marc N, Aguilar-Raab Corina, Rittner Sabine, Warth Marco, Stoffel Martin, Ditzen Beate
Institute of Medical Psychology, Center for Psychosocial Medicine, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany.
Ruprecht Karl University Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
Stress Health. 2025 Apr;41(2):e70026. doi: 10.1002/smi.70026.
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a stress-related disease that affects women more often than men. Music therapy (MT) has been shown to be effective in the treatment of MDD. However, clinical trials investigating the effects of MT on psychological and psychobiological stress-related outcomes in women suffering from MDD are still scarce. This study was conducted as a randomised controlled trial, with participants assigned to either an intervention group (IG), which received group MT (GMT), or a waitlist control group (CG), which received GMT 6 months later. The primary objective was to assess the impact of GMT on psychological stress outcomes (chronic stress, stress coping, and stress experienced in daily life) and psychobiological stress markers (diurnal salivary cortisol levels and circadian heart rate variability), considering the effects of both group allocation and time. Outcome measurements were taken before, immediately after, and-for some variables-10 weeks following the intervention period. A total of 102 women 18-65 years old and diagnosed with current MDD took part in the study. Overall, the IG demonstrated significantly stronger stress-reducing effects than the CG. Significant improvements were observed in general stress coping, positive thinking, daily life stress, and cortisol levels. GMT is a cost-effective and non-invasive approach to effectively address the stress-related psychological and psychobiological burden associated with MDD. To demonstrate long-term effects and gain a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms, further methodologically robust studies are needed. TRAIL REGISTRATION: The MUSED study was pre-registered at the German Clinical Trials Registry (DRKS00016616). All study-related procedures were published in detail in a study protocol.
重度抑郁症（MDD）是一种与压力相关的疾病，女性比男性更易受其影响。音乐疗法（MT）已被证明对治疗MDD有效。然而，关于MT对患有MDD的女性心理和心理生物学压力相关结果影响的临床试验仍然很少。本研究作为一项随机对照试验进行，参与者被分配到干预组（IG），接受团体音乐疗法（GMT），或等待名单对照组（CG），后者在6个月后接受GMT。主要目的是评估GMT对心理压力结果（慢性压力、压力应对和日常生活中经历的压力）和心理生物学压力标志物（日间唾液皮质醇水平和昼夜心率变异性）的影响，同时考虑分组和时间的影响。在干预期之前、之后立即以及——对于某些变量——干预期后10周进行结果测量。共有102名年龄在18至65岁之间且被诊断患有当前MDD的女性参与了该研究。总体而言，IG表现出比CG更强的减压效果。在一般压力应对、积极思考、日常生活压力和皮质醇水平方面观察到了显著改善。GMT是一种经济有效且非侵入性的方法，可有效解决与MDD相关的压力相关心理和心理生物学负担。为了证明长期效果并更好地理解潜在机制，需要进一步进行方法学上更严谨的研究。试验注册：MUSED研究已在德国临床试验注册中心（DRKS00016616）进行预注册。所有与研究相关的程序均已在一份研究方案中详细公布。
