Work

Music therapy and its impact on anxiety and mental well-being of Chinese students: An experimental comparison of traditional and VR approaches

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: The incorporation of advanced technologies into music therapy can potentially benefit many therapeutic approaches. This study aims to examine the effectiveness of music therapy, conventional and VR-enhanced, in improving graduate students' mental well-being and reducing their anxiety level. The study involved 270 fourth-year undergraduate students from three universities in China. Using the Chinese versions of the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS) and the Test Anxiety Scale (TAS), the study found that the control group experienced the worsening of mental well-being and higher anxiety when compared to baseline, with the mean differences of 2.62 and 2.60 points, respectively. The conventional music therapy group exhibited an improvement in mental well-being of 3.81 points, whereas their anxiety level decreased by 3.53 points. The effects of the intervention were even more pronounced in the VR-MT group, with an increase in the WEMWBS score of 7.48 points and a decrease in the anxiety score of 6.36 points. The results provided strong evidence of significant differences between the three conditions (p < 0.001). This study provides empirical evidence that VR-enhanced music therapy is a more effective method for reducing anxiety and improving mental health than the conventional approach.

Source: Acta Psychologica

DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2025.104898

Authors: Gengchen Liu, Jiandan Hu, Ilona Kostikova

Institution: H.S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University

Language: English

Topic: Music Therapy and Health

Subfield: Social Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Good health and well-being, Quality education

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,670