The use of songwriting as a treatment modality with depressed adolescents

Abstract: It was the researche's hypothesis that songwriting as a therapeutic treatment will decrease the measured depression levels of adolescents suffering from depression. The anxiety levels of individual patients before and after the songwriting sessions were also evaluated. The Children's Depression Inventory was administered before and after the songwriting sessions to each participant. The Wilcoxon Matched-Pairs-Signed-Ranks Test was used as a test of significance. The revised edition of the Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale was administered as a supplement to measure the anxiety levels of the patients before and after songwriting. The results showed a decrease in depression in eight of ten participants after the songwriting sessions. Of the remaining two participants, one's level of depression increased and the other's remained the same.

Note: Children's-Depression-Inventory.

Keyword(s): songs, composition, adolescents, depression, anxiety, anxiety-reduction.

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