Examining the relationship between self-reported mood management and music preferences of Australian teenagers

Abstract

The influence of music on the moods and behaviour of young people has been much contested. Whilst some parties accuse the music industry of purposefully poisoning the minds of youth, others understand the relationship between teenagers and their music preferences as reciprocal. This article reports on an investigation examining what 111 Australian adolescents reported about changes in their mood before and after listening to self-selected genres of music. Most young people reported using music to improve their mood, particularly when their initial state was already positive; however when feeling sad or stressed, some young people reported a worsening mood. Correlational analysis revealed that whilst the distressed young people in this sample were more likely to prefer listening to angry music and have a preference for metal, they did not report a more negative effect on their mood than any other genre of music. The researchers conclude that mixed methodologies may be better suited for examining this complex phenomenon and for avoiding overly simplistic interpretations of data. Music therapists are encouraged to initiate dialogue with distressed young people in order to increase their consciousness about whether their mood improves or worsens when listening to self-selected music.

Keywords:

• music
• adolescents
• psychological distress
• mood management
• heavy metal

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by The University of Melbourne [Internal Grants Scheme].

Notes on contributors

Katrina Skewes McFerran

A/Professor Katrina Skewes McFerran is head of Music Therapy in the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music and Co-Director of the National Music Therapy Research Unit at the University of Melbourne. She is passionate about exploring the enablers and barriers that impact the ways adolescents appropriate music for health and wellbeing. She has published widely on this topic, including a book on Adolescents, Music and Music Therapy (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2010).

Sandra Garrido

Dr Sandra Garrido is a post-doctoral research fellow for both the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music at the University of Melbourne and the ARC Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions at the University of Western Australia. Her research focuses on understanding emotional response to music and the impact of music on mental health. Dr Garrido is also a member of the Empirical Musicology Group, the Australian Music and Psychology Society (AMPS) and a member of the National Committee of the Musicological Society of Australia.

Denise Grocke

Emeritus Professor Denise Grocke PhD, RMT, FAMI founded the music therapy course at the University of Melbourne in 1978 and retired in 2012. She continues to lead Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) training at the University of Melbourne. She is co-author of Receptive Methods in Music Therapy (2007), co-editor of Guided Imagery and Music: The Bonny Method and Beyond (2002 and has numerous book chapters and articles in refereed journals on music therapy and Guided Imagery and Music.

Susan M. Sawyer

A paediatrician by training, Professor Susan Sawyer has helped establish the field of Adolescent Health and Medicine in Australia. She has a major interest in health service research for adolescents, including the role of music therapy. Professor Sawyer holds the inaugural chair of Adolescent Health at the University of Melbourne and is the director of the Centre for Adolescent Health at the Royal Children’s Hospital.