Music improves well-being and quality of life, concludes a recent review of 26 studies.
A team of scientists has empirically confirmed that music (listening to it, singing it, or dancing to it) is good for our mental health and, by extension, our quality of life.
A review of 26 studies conducted in several countries, including Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, concluded that music can provide a clinically significant boost to mental health. Seven of the studies involved music therapy, 10 looked at the effect of listening to music, eight examined singing, and one studied the effect of gospel music in general.
A growing number of studies are finding links between music and well-being, But exactly why it works is an area where scientists continue to investigate, and that's where this particular research can be useful.
The meta-analysis that included the participation of 779 people in total, used the widely adopted and well-regarded 36-item Short Form Survey (SF-36) on physical and mental health, or the shorter 12-item alternative (SF-12), which makes it easier to collate and synthesize data.
"Increasing evidence supports music's ability to broadly promote well-being and health-related quality of life (HRQOL)," the researchers write in their paper published in the journal JAMA Network Open. "However , the magnitude of music's positive association with HRQOL remains unclear, particularly in relation to established interventions, which limits the inclusion of musical interventions in health policy and care."
Examination of the results confirmed that "music interventions are linked to significant improvements in well-being" and the effects were similar whether participants sang, played or listened to music.
"This meta-analysis of 26 studies of music interventions provided clear, quantitative evidence of moderate quality that music interventions are associated with clinically significant changes in mental HRQOL," the researchers write. "Furthermore, a subset of 8 studies demonstrated that adding interventions musicals to usual treatment was associated with clinically significant changes in mental HRQOL across a variety of conditions."
The authors of the study suggest that the benefit of music for mental quality of life had an effect close to the improvements in mental health similar to that produced for exercise and weight loss.
“ Future research is needed” to clarify optimal music interventions and dosages for use in specific clinical and public health settings,” the experts conclude.
