Speaker
Description
Background: This study aimed to explore the effect of music on stress recovery using both subjective measurements and physiological indices.
Methods: Participants (N = 105) underwent the Trier Social Stress Test before being randomly allocated to four groups: group 1 listened to researcher-selected music; group 2 listened to self-selected music; group 3 listened to water sound; and group 4 remained in silence. During recovery, Visual Analogue Scales (VAS) was used, and saliva samples were collected for cortisol and saliva alpha-amylase (sAA) analysis.
Results: The change of VAS scores was significantly different (F(3, 99) = 3.11, p = 0.030, d = 0.71); the area under the curve with respect to increase (AUCi) of sAA was also different (F(3, 95) = 3.36, p = 0.022, d = 0.85); whereas there were no differences for the AUCi of cortisol. The planned contrasts revealed that, for VAS change, group 4 was higher than groups 1-3 (t(99) = 0.049, r = 0.20). For AUCi of sAA, group 1 was higher than group 2 (t(95) = 0.003, r = 0.30).
Conclusion: Music or nature sounds decreased recovery. Self-selected music was better than researcher-selected music on sAA.
