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Therapeutic music experiences for college-aged women with negative body perception

Date

2013

Authors

Hinz, Bailey I., author
Davis, William B., advisor
LaGasse, A. Blythe, advisor
Cordain, Loren, committee member

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Abstract

Body image disturbances and maladjusted compensatory eating behaviors are a problem which affects a significant portion of the population, especially young women. These issues can lead to an eating disorder, a life-threatening psychological disease that manifests physically. Research indicates that recovery from an eating disorder is extremely difficult but possible through a variety of medical, nutritional, psychological, and creative therapies. One creative therapy that has been successfully utilized by clinicians is music therapy. However, there is a limited amount of information published regarding therapeutic music's efficacy in treating body image and eating troubles. The purpose of this pilot study was to gather initial efficacy data on a variety of therapeutic music interventions in improving self-image through a descriptive case-study. Participants consisted of six female students between the ages of 18 and 25 years recruited from the Colorado State University campus. Subjects took part in at least three out of five one hour sessions that occurred for a period of five consecutive days. Music interventions included music directed progressive relaxation, movement and breathing to music, improvisation, music leading, lyric analysis, and therapeutic song writing. Data was collected blindly through a questionnaire prepared by the researcher as well as a pre-test post-test comparison of the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale. Data was analyzed with a paired t-test with the independent variable of participation in the music intervention and the dependent variable being the score received on the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale. Because of the low number of participants and the absence of a control group, alpha was set at p<0.10. The calculated t-score of the total score on the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale was p = 0.133 and the null hypothesis was therefore not rejected and significance not reached. However, three of the four participants on which data was collected showed improvement in total score with the fourth participant showing no change. Further, all participants improved in the specific area of physical self-concept, reaching significance with a calculated t-score of p=0.089. Finally, responses on the post-test questionnaire indicated that participants enjoyed taking part in the therapeutic music interventions and felt as though they had received some benefit from taking part in sessions.

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Subject

eating disorder
body perception
mental health
music therapy
self-image
therapeutic music

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