Academia and stress: A study on the effectiveness of music therapy for stress reduction amongst college students

Music therapy (MT) is an evidence-based form of mind-body therapy (MBT) proven to be an effective therapy, resulting in physiological and psychological benefits to a listener. The purpose of the study was to investigate the effectiveness of MT on college students in a classroom environment. Data was collected during the years 2008 - 2012, from college students enrolled into an Alternative Nutrition class at California State University, Los Angeles. Music was chosen by each student and the Instructor, and presented to participants during the class period. Each participant recorded perceived stress level before and after each song on a Likert Scale from 1-10. Results demonstrated an overall reduction in stress levels for all five-year experiments. This intervention is significant, providing evidence on the effectiveness of MT for college students because stress is elevated due to many factors; therefore, listening to music for stress relief is an effortless and affordable therapy.