Effect of music therapy on stress in chemically dependent people: a quasi-experimental study

• Main Authors: Gunnar Glauco De Cunto Taets, Rafael Tavares Jomar, Angela Maria Mendes Abreu, Marcia Alves Marques Capella
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade de São Paulo 2019-01-01
• Series: Revista Latino-Americana de Enfermagem
• Subjects: Music Therapy; Related Disorders Substance Use; Dependency; Emotional Stress; Drug Addition; Public Health
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0104-11692019000100303&lng=en&tlng=en

ABSTRACT Objective: to evaluate the effect of music therapy on the stress of chemically dependent people. Method: quasi-experimental study conducted at a philanthropic institution with 18 chemically dependent people undergoing treatment. Salivary cortisol (stress hormone) was collected in three moments: before, 60 minutes after, and 120 minutes after a music therapy group intervention. Statistical analysis adopted a significance level of p < 0.05 and used the Wilcoxon and Kruskal-Wallis non-parametric tests. Results: after 60 minutes of intervention, there was a statistically significant reduction in mean salivary cortisol levels (p < 0.001). A reduction was also noted after 120 minutes, but without statistical significance (p = 0.139). Conclusion: a single session of 60 minutes of group music therapy was able to reduce stress (salivary cortisol levels) of chemically dependent people.