Ashley's Annotated Bibliography

Feng, F., Zhang, Y., Hou, J., Cai, J., Jiang, Q., Li, X., Zhao, Q., & Li, B. (2018). Can music improve sleep quality in adults with primary insomnia? A systematic review and network meta-analysis. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 77, 189–196. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2017.10.011

This article outlines the procedures these authors used to determine if music interventions can be used to help adults with their insomnia via systematic review. Since the studies that qualified used small samples, it was difficult for them to determine if music was indeed beneficial. To combat this, they did a meta-analysis. They were able to identify 12 music interventions used with 1339 patients. While all 12 interventions showed effective significance, listening to music produced the most significant results. It improved sleep efficiency by inducing relaxation.

The information I gleaned from this article will be useful when making my activities. It provides evidence pertaining to the usefulness of listening to music when dealing with insomnia – a primary concern my community partner, Ryan, brought up during our interview. Looking at the different listed interventions that resulted in significant effectiveness was very helpful when it cam to brainstorming activity ideas. While my overarching goal is not necessarily to put the veteran patients to sleep, it is to help provide avenues for relaxation.

Gold, A. & Clare, A. (2013). An exploration of music listening in chronic pain. Psychology of Music, 41(5), 545–564. https://doi-org.ezproxy.uky.edu/10.1177/0305735612440613

This the authors of this article were striving to create better guidelines for music-based self-management strategies to help people who are suffering from chronic pain. They also wanted to make sure it was a protocol that could be individualized. Through this study, they learned that people struggling with chronic pain had a diminished relationship with music post-onset, though there were considerations of picking it back up. The authors found that there were both positive and negative responses to interacting with music, depending on the person and circumstance. They also noted that music could be utilized in a multitude of ways, including movement, distraction from pain, reminiscence, and disassociation. Overall, they determined that further research needed to be pursued to determine more specific effects of music.

There are a lot of things I like about this article. Its use of the biopsychosocial model is something I appreciate because of the authors’ explanation of how music can affect people biologically, psychologically, and socially – just as they describe how chronic pain can invade those same areas of peoples lives. I think is important to my project because it provides a basis for how providing a music resources as a supplement to physical therapy could produce positive effects in multiple areas of the veteran patients’ lives. It also specifically mentions music listening being effective. This is significant to be because of how I plan to have the veteran patients utilize music for the activities.

Linnemann, A., Ditzen, B., Strahler, J., Doerr, J. M., & Nater, U. M. (2015). Music listening as a means of stress reduction in daily life. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 60, 82–90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2015.06.008

The authors of this study were researching to see if listening to music during stressful circumstances could have a biological effect on the body, resulting in a decreased stress. They worked with university students during a school year to analyze their cortisol and alpha-amylase levels – two indicators of stress levels in the body. They measured these levels during a regular week of school and during finals week. They found that listening to music did in fact contribute to lower stress levels, but there were more significant results when there was purpose behind listening to music.

What I love about this article is how the authors utilized a biological marker for measuring stress levels to determine the effects of music on stress. This article could be extremely helpful for individuals who desire more somatic evidence of how music can affect the body. Since I will be working with such a broad age range of veteran patients, I think it is important to be able to provide varying types of data regarding how music could affect their lives. It was also encouraging to read that relaxation was a primary reason for music listening, and there were significant results of decreased stress.