The Effect of Song-based Interventions on Psychosocial Factors for Adults in Rehabilitation and Their Caregivers

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of song-based music therapy interventions on psychosocial factors for people who have had Acquired Brain Injuries (ABI) or Spinal Cord injuries (SCI) and their caregivers during acute rehabilitation. The psychosocial factors in this study involve mood states, caregiving experiences, and dyadic relationships. The study also examined the correlation between care recipients and caregivers on mood states and the dyadic relationship. A quasi-experimental, two-group pretest-posttest design without a control group was used to investigate the psychosocial factors. A total of 10 dyads were recruited for the study. Group A in this study were care recipients; Group B were caregivers of Group A. The dyad attended four individual music therapy sessions of approximately 45-minute duration over a period of 14 days. During the song-based music therapy protocol, the participants were empowered to choose between singing along or listening to their preferred music. Caregiver participants had the option to participate in either in-person or virtual sessions. Three measures were used to investigate psychosocial factors: Visual Analogue Mood States (VAMS), Positive Aspects of Caregiving (PAC), and Dyadic Relationship Scale (DRS). VAMS was used pre and post each intervention while PAC and DRS were only used before the first session and the last session. All statistical analyses were conducted in R, a statistical program. The Wilcoxon test and Kendall’s rank correlations were used to examine the pre- and post-intervention changes and the correlation between Group A and Group B on mood states and the dyadic relationship. The findings of the study indicated that there were significant changes in mood states for both Group A and Group B. There were four strong correlations in the dyadic relationship between caregivers and care recipients, including feeling closer to each other, feeling angry toward the other, having more patience than they have had in the past, and feeling relationships with each other were strained. Implications for music therapy practice and recommendations for the field and future research are also presented.