The Effect of Listening to Music on Stress Reduction among Twelfth-grade Students

Abstract

OBJECTIVE To examine the effects of listening to music on stress reduction among twelfth-grade students. METHODS A quasi-experimental study was conducted with 116 twelfthgrade students recruited from a public school in Bangkok, Thailand, of whom 82 completed the study. During a 20-minute period, an intervention group (47 students) listened to music drawing upon nature sounds, while a control group (35 students) read about stress reduction techniques. Measurements were made of heart rates and stress levels using the Thai Stress Test (TST) and a 5-point Likert scale (stress 5-PL) at baseline and immediately after the activities. The t-test and chi-squared test for linear-by-linear association were used to compare changes in the stress parameters. RESULTS Analysis of the baseline and post-intervention data revealed that music listening significantly reduced heart rates and scores for TST and stress 5-PL (p = < 0.001, 0.016, and < 0.001, respectively). However, reading about stress reduction produced no significant lowering of heart rates or scores for TST and stress 5-PL (p = 0.057, > 0.999, and 0.070, respectively). In a comparison between the groups, there were no significant differences in the reductions in heart rates or scores for TST and stress 5-PL (p = 0.490, 0.182, and 0.199, respectively). CONCLUSIONS Listening to music for 20 minutes significantly decreased both physical and psychological stress, but the reduction did not differ from that achieved by reading about stress reduction.