Personalized audio montage: Impact of a receptive music therapy method-variation on youth experiencing homelessness

Abstract

Introduction: This quantitative research investigates the impact of a receptive music therapy method-variation, Personalized Audio Montage (called Montage Audio Personnalisé [MAP] in French), on self-reported levels of stress, anxiety, physical tension, fatigue, and mood of youth experiencing homelessness. Method: A single-group pretest-posttest design was used to determine the impact of MAP. Participants completed the co-researcher music therapist-developed Visual Analogue Scales (VAS) for five independent variables (i.e. self-reported levels of stress, anxiety, fatigue, physical tension, and mood), before and after participating in individual MAP sessions. Multivariate ANOVAs for repeated measures were used considering time (pretest-posttest), and MAP sessions as within-subjects factors. Results: Nine youth (n = 9) participated in one to three MAP sessions. There were 20 pre-tests and post-tests for each independent variable except for anxiety, for which 19 pre-tests and post-tests were completed. Results of quantitative data analysis show a statistically significant decrease in scores for self-reported levels of stress, anxiety and physical tension at post-session as compared to pre-session. No significant effect was observed for fatigue. Finally, mood scores significantly improved from prettest to posttest. Discussion: Findings suggest that MAP holds potential to be a valuable part of music therapists’ intervention strategies to support the emotional and physical well-being of youth experiencing homelessness. Limitations and future research recommendations are presented with regard to the small sample size and complexity of conducting research with youth experiencing homelessness.