Measuring engagement with music: development of an informant-report questionnaire

Abstract

Objectives: This study describes the development of the Music Engagement Questionnaire (MusEQ), a 35-item scale to measure engagement with music in daily life. Music has implications for well-being and for therapy, notably for individuals living with dementia. A number of excellent scales or questionnaires are now available to measure music engagement. Unlike these scales, the MusEQ may be completed by either the participant or an informant.

Method: Study 1 drew on a community-based sample of 391 participants. Exploratory factor analysis revealed six interpretable factors, which formed the basis for construction of six subscales. Study 2 applied the MusEQ to a group of participants with Alzheimer's disease (AD; n = 16) as well as a group of neurotypical older adults (OA; n = 16). Informants completed the MusEQ, and the OA group also completed the self-report version of the MusEQ. Both groups had an interview in which they described the place music had in their lives. These interviews were scored by three independent raters.

Results: The MusEQ showed excellent internal consistency. Five of the factor-derived subscales showed good or excellent internal consistency. MusEQ scores were moderately correlated with a global rating of ‘musicality’ and with music education. There was strong agreement between self-report and informant-report data. MusEQ scores showed a significant positive relationship to independent ratings of music engagement.

Conclusion: The MusEQ provides a meaningful and reliable option for measuring music engagement among participants who are unable to complete a self-report questionnaire.

Keywords:

• music and arts
• psychosocial interventions
• psychological and social aspects
• dementia and cognitive disorders
• quantitative methods and statistics

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Dr Patricia Davis for her valuable comments on an earlier version of the questionnaire. Dr Angeles Garcia graciously facilitated participant recruitment through the Memory Disorders Clinic at Queen's University. A number of research assistants helped with the administration of this study. Sean Bai, Sophie Waldman, and Zoe Hodgins meticulously coded the qualitative interviews.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplemental data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed at http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2015.1021750.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada [RHPIN/333-2010]; a Grammy Foundation Scientific Research Grant to Lola L. Cuddy.