With the new year comes new research; however, we need to look at what was published later in 2014 before moving into 2015!. We are excited to bring you this snapshot of research articles published over the last few months. Just a reminder of the purpose of the MTRB – we try to connect music therapy clinicians to current research that is not published in music therapy journals. We do this for the love of the profession and support this effort with online courses offered at MTNED.com. We also have goals for 2015 including at least 1x monthly postings (if not more) and new podcasts featuring music therapy researchers. Below you will find a brief summary and link to some recently-published articles. We hope you enjoy!
Silverman (2014) published an article on the use of music therapy for drug avoidance self-efficacy in patients. This study used a wait-list control design that compared music therapy to verbal therapy and control. The study included 131 persons who receive one treatment intervention. There were no significant differences found; however, music therapy participants had the highest mean drug avoidance self-efficacy scores. It would be very interesting to see a study of this nature that has more than one treatment session. Although it may not be practical for this particular site, having some indication of how dosing affects these behaviors would be helpful for music therapy clinicians.
Tamplin and colleagues (2014) completed an analysis of the group music therapy experience for people with chronic quadriplegia. The interviewed 20 people that participated in two interventions, therapeutic singing or music appreciation and relaxation. Quantitative data from this study were published in Tamplin et al (2013). Results indicated that individuals in both groups had positive experiences, were engaged socially, and connected with music. Participants in the singing group found singing to be challenging and confronting, though had an increase in motivation. I always find it interesting to read an analysis of this sort – where we have previously seen the quantitative data and now a more in-depth look at the perceptions is being presented. This article is not yet available for full release, so we will need to wait to read the full paper!
The impact of music therapy vs. music medicine in persons undergoing treatment for cancer was published by Bradt et al (2014). This is a mixed-methods study with a randomized cross-over trial. The study included 31 persons who received two music therapy and two music medicine sessions (recorded music without MT present). Measures of pain, mood, anxiety, and relaxation were taken before and after the sessions and an exit interview was conducted. Both interventions were found to be effective; however, 77.4% of patients preferred the Music Therapy sessions. Comments indicated that MT helped the patients to tap in to “inner” resources. After the 2014 AMTA National Conference, where we learned about mixed methods research and application of this research in music therapy, it is a delight to read studies with a better understanding of how both quantitative and qualitative data help to inform the research. I feel that this study is a very nice example of mixed methods research!
References
Bradt, J., Potvin, N., Kesslick, A., Shim, M., Radl, D., Schriver, E., Gracely, E.J., & Komarnicky-Kocher, L.T. (2014). The impact of music therapy versus music medicine on psychological outcomes and pain in cancer patients: A mixed methods study. Support Care Cancer. PMID: 25322972 [Epub ahead of print]
Silverman, M.J. (2014).Effects of music therapy on drug avoidance self-efficacy in patients on a detoxification unit: a three-group randomized effectiveness study. J Addict Nurs., 25(4), 172-81. PMID: 25514686 doi: 10.1097/JAN.0000000000000047.
Tamplin J, Baker FA, Grocke D, Berlowitz DJ. (2014).
Thematic analysis of the experience of group music therapy for people with chronic quadriplegia. Top Spinal Cord Inj Rehabil., 20(3), 236-47. doi: 10.1310/sci2003-236.
PMID: 25484569 [PubMed]
Tamplin, J., Baker, F.A., Grocke, D., Brazzale, D.J., Pretto, J.J., Ruehland, W.R., Buttifant, M., Brown, D.J., & Berlowitz, D.J.(2013). Effect of singing on respiratory function, voice, and mood after quadriplegia: a randomized controlled trial. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2013 Mar;94(3):426-34. PMID: 23103430 doi: 10.1016/j.apmr.2012.10.006. Epub 2012 Oct 24.