Short-term music therapy treatment for adolescents with depression – A pilot study

Music therapy holds promising potential to support adolescents with depression mastering developmental tasks as well as improving emotion regulation. The objective of the present pilot study was to assess the feasibility, acceptance and potential effectiveness of a theory driven music therapy treatment plan for youth with depression. The treatment aimed to reduce severity of depression and to improve emotion regulation and health related quality of life. Hair cortisol concentration served as an additional biological marker for bodily stress. In an outpatient center, adolescents with depression received 12 single sessions of music therapy. A prospective, single-arm repeated-measures design (pre-, post-, follow-up) was used to examine acceptance, feasibility, and outcome measures. Nine adolescents were included in analyses. The music therapy treatment plan seems to be feasible and well accepted by adolescents. The results of analyses indicate improvements regarding depressive symptoms, positive coping with difficult emotions and health-related quality of life in included patients. The beneficial effects were not shown to be fully sustained in the follow-up. The results suggest that music therapy caused no harm and might have contributed to the improvement of clinical outcomes in the mildly to moderately adolescents with depression. Several recommendations for future trials in this field are reported. ●Design of the pilot study is feasible, recruitment is of major importance.●The music therapy treatment plan was well accepted by adolescents with depression.●Severity of depression decreased while attending the program & increased afterwards.●Other significant changes were seen in emotion regulation and self-perception.