How Can We Help? Wellbeing Interventions for Choral Music Ensembles
Trial statusNot yet recruiting
Trial phaseNot applicable
Trial typeInterventional
Biological sexAll
Age10-20
SponsorJess Walls
About this trial
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if psychology and music based interventions can impact anxiety and overall wellbeing in adolescents enrolled in choral music classes. The main questions it aims to answer are:
Do specific psychology and music based breathing interventions impact anxiety and overall wellbeing in adolescents? Do specific psychology and music based performance anxiety reduction interventions impact anxiety and overall wellbeing in adolescents? Do specific psychology and music based emotion regulation interventions impact anxiety and overall wellbeing in adolescents? Researchers will compare results of pre-test data, post-test data, qualitative interviews, and surveys of adult choral directors to see if there is a measurable impact on adolescent anxiety and overall wellbeing.
Participants will:
* Use box breathing during choral music warm-ups to connect choral breathing to breathing for anxiety reduction * Use "magnify" technique to compare cognitive distortions regarding an upcoming performance that may cause anxiety to the most likely realistic outcome * Use emotion regulation through song lyrics technique to connect lyrics of choral music repertoire to participants experienced emotions
Eligibility criteria
This trial accepts healthy volunteersQualifiers
Enrolled in 6th through 12th grade at selected schools
Enrolled in choir at the selected schools
Disqualifiers
None
Trial design
Design model
Single group
Treatments tested in this trial
Box breathing
BehavioralStudents will be led through a standard choral music breathing technique known as abdominal breathing, where they are reminded that a deep breath should cause your abdomen to expand to make more room in the lungs for air. After 2-3 standard deep breaths, they will be introduced to box breathing, which is an inhale for 4 beats, hold for 4 beats, exhale for 4 beats, hold for 4 beats, and repeat. Students will be told that this technique is useful for improving choral singing but can also be used in situations where the student is experiencing anxiety.
Magnify
BehavioralThis is a mindfulness-based technique that pulls from Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Dialectical Behavior Therapy techniques that is referred to colloquially as "what would happen if" or "magnify", used to examine cognitive distortions and reframe them to be more in line with reality. Students will be asked to think about an upcoming performance that may make them feel anxious and come up with a catastrophic scenario where everything that could possibly go wrong does go wrong, making note of the likelihood of the catastrophe. Students will internally come up with a best-case scenario and likelihood, and finally a most likely scenario somewhere between the best and worst case options.
Emotion regulation through choral literature
BehavioralThis intervention will use choral music literature to help students identify emotions, connect those emotions to their own experiences, and use the choral music literature to experience and work through those emotions in a safe environment. The choir will read through the lyrics of the chosen song, then narrow down the emotions referred to in the song using a list of possible emotions provided by the researcher. Students will recall an event in their own lives where they experienced that emotion, which they are not required to share out loud. With that emotion in mind, students will sing through the choral music piece, taking care to connect their own emotional experience with what they are singing. After the song, students will be asked to reflect on whether their own experiences with that emotion changed their perspective on the song, and whether singing about the emotion helped them work through their own situations and regulate their feelings.
Treatment groups
200 Participants
are divided into 1 treatment groupGroup A: Choral InterventionsExperimental treatment 3 interventions
Trial outcomes
Primary outcomes
1
Change in Anxiety
Measured quantitatively through: -pre-test and post-test data Measured qualitatively through: * Student interview questions exploring experiences of anxiety and use of breathing and "Magnify" techniques * Qualitative responses to open-ended post-test survey items * Choir director observations of anxiety and performance anxiety (open-ended director survey)
Time frame
From enrollment to choir director survey 4 weeks later2
Change in Emotion Regulation
Measured quantitatively through: -pre-test and post-test data Measured qualitatively through: * Student interview questions exploring emotional processing during the music-based intervention * Post-test open-ended responses regarding emotion regulation * Choir director survey reporting observed changes in students' emotion regulation
Time frame
From enrollment to the choir director survey 4 weeks post intervention3
Change in Well-Being
Measured quantitatively through: -pre-test and post-test data Measured qualitatively through: * Interview comments about perceived overall well-being changes * Open-ended post-test items about intervention effectiveness
Time frame
From enrollment to second post-test administration one week after interventionSecondary outcomes
1
Change in Musicality and Emotional Engagement in Music
Measured qualitatively through: * Choir director open-ended survey addressing musicality, emotional expression, and performance anxiety * Qualitative coding of director observations and researcher field notes Measured indirectly through: -Student reflections on connecting emotion to choral literature in interviews and post-test items
Time frame
From enrollment to choir director survey 4 weeks after interventionSponsors and contacts
Click on the lead sponsor to view all of their trials.
Jess Walls
Lead sponsor
Auburn University
Sponsor institution
Source ClinicalTrials.gov
This trial is not recruiting at the moment. You can still explore other options: