Psychobiological Responses to Choral Singing in Mentally Ill and Healthy Children and Adolescents

NCT ID: NCT04454736

Last Updated: 2022-05-19

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

UNKNOWN

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

135 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2021-08-01

Study Completion Date

2023-07-31

Brief Summary

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Interventional, three-armed, open, monocentric, medium-term follow-up, pre-test-post-test design, controlled, parallel group study to investigate the effects of a group singing intervention on neuroendocrine (hair cortisol, salivary cortisol, salivary alpha amylase), immune (salivary immunoglobulin A/s-IgA), and psychological (psychological stress, mood, social contacts, emotional and social competence, self-esteem, and quality of life) responses in mentally ill and healthy children and adolescents (N=135, age range 10 -18).

Additionally, the child and adolescent psychiatry group (age range 13-18) takes part in three hour creative workshops every two weeks.

Detailed Description

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Background: Biopsychological responses to music-related activities (MRA) were examined in various naturalistic settings in adults. Group singing in particular seems to be associated with positive biopsychological outcomes. There is also an emerging view that MRA may play an important role for youth with mental disorders. However, longitudinal research on biopsychological responses to MRA in different clinical and healthy populations among children and adolescents is lacking.

Method: Children and adolescents (age range 10-18) under psychiatric treatment at the Department of Child and Adolescents Psychiatry in Salzburg (n=45), healthy children and adolescents from a school in Salzburg (n=45), and members from the Vienna Boys Choir (n=45) in Austria will be recruited to take part in the study. Subjective measures (mood, stress experience) will be taken pre- and post singing sessions once a week throughout six months. Additionally, salivary biomarkers (cortisol, alpha amylase and IgA), social contacts, and quality of life are assessed. Emotional competence, social competence, self-esteem, and chronic stress levels are measured at the beginning, after three months, at the end, and in a follow-up of the study.

The group of child and adolescent psychiatry taking part in the creative workshops will be additionally assessed via questionnaires regarding emotional regulation, self-esteem, and art experience before and after every workshop. Furthermore, some individuals of the child and adolescent psychiatry group will undergo fMRI evaluation of the brain before and after completion of all creative interventions.

Conclusion: Singing and other creative activities are suggested to benefit mental and physical health in children and adolescents. However, despite the current knowledge, the researchers must better understand the biopsychological mechanisms underlying choral singing in order to determine its full potential, particularly for vulnerable populations. This is the first study to investigate this issue in this population.

Conditions

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Stress

Study Design

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Allocation Method

NON_RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

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SBGmentdis

Children and adolescents with mental disorders at the Department of Child and Adolescents Psychiatry in Salzburg, Austria

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

"Amateur" Group Singing

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

45-minute singing session led by a professional choirmaster without a therapeutic background once a week

SBGhealthy

Healthy children and adolescents from schools in Salzburg, Austria

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

"Amateur" Group Singing

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

45-minute singing session led by a professional choirmaster without a therapeutic background once a week

VIEhealthy

Members from the Vienna Boys Choir, Austria

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

"Professional" Group Singing

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

120-minute singing session led by a professional choirmaster without a therapeutic background three times a week. Assessments take place twice a week.

Interventions

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"Amateur" Group Singing

45-minute singing session led by a professional choirmaster without a therapeutic background once a week

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

"Professional" Group Singing

120-minute singing session led by a professional choirmaster without a therapeutic background three times a week. Assessments take place twice a week.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Written consent to study participation;
* Gender: male, female, different;
* Age: children and adolescents aged ≥ 10 and ≤ 18 years;
* Diagnosis of a psychiatric disorder according to ICD-10;
* Patients are admitted regardless of medication status and are allowed to the medication will continue to be used during the study;
* Additional therapies and medication are recorded and are not an exclusion criterion;
* Musical skills or a certain musical background are not required


* Written consent to study participation;
* Gender: male, female, different;
* Age: children and adolescents aged ≥ 10 and ≤ 18 years;
* Musical skills or a certain musical background are not required

Exclusion Criteria

* Age: children and adolescents aged \<10 years and \> 18 years;
* Criteria that prevent an application: hearing loss, states of confusion, inability to verbalize;
* Patients with acute externalizing behavior or self-harm/suicidality;
* Existing alcohol addiction or abuse of illegal drugs;


* Age: children and adolescents aged \<10 years and \> 18 years
* Criteria that prevent an application: hearing loss, states of confusion, inability to verbalize
Minimum Eligible Age

10 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

18 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sponsors

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Universität Mozartuem Salzburg

UNKNOWN

Sponsor Role collaborator

Salzburger Landeskliniken

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

Paracelsus Medical University

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

University of Vienna

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

University of Salzburg

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Katarzyna Grebosz-Haring

Senior Scientist, Principal Investigator

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

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Katarzyna Grebosz-Haring, Dr.

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University Mozarteum Salzburg, University of Salzburg

Leonhard Thun-Hohenstein, Prof. Dr.

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Salzburger Landeskliniken Betriebsges.m.b.H.

Locations

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Salzburger Landeskliniken, Universitätsklinik für Kinder- und Jugendpsychiatrie

Salzburg, , Austria

Site Status RECRUITING

University Mozarteum Salzburg/University of Salzburg

Salzburg, , Austria

Site Status RECRUITING

University of Vienna

Vienna, , Austria

Site Status RECRUITING

Countries

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Austria

Central Contacts

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Katarzyna Grebosz-Haring, Dr.

Role: CONTACT

+43 - 662 - 8044 - 2370

Facility Contacts

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Leonhard Thun-Hohenstein, Prof.Dr.

Role: primary

+43 (0) 57255 ext. 34201

Katarzyna A Grebosz-Haring, Dr.

Role: primary

+43 - 662 - 8044 - 2370

Urs M Nater, Prof. Dr.

Role: primary

+43 1 4277 ext. 47220

References

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Grebosz-Haring K, Thun-Hohenstein L. Effects of group singing versus group music listening on hospitalized children and adolescents with mental disorders: A pilot study. Heliyon. 2018 Dec 17;4(12):e01014. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2018.e01014. eCollection 2018 Dec.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 30582039 (View on PubMed)

Grebosz-Haring, K., Thun-Hohenstein, L. (2020). Singing for Health and Wellbeing in Children and Adolescents with Mental Disorders. In R. Heydon, D. Fancourt, A. Cohen (Eds.), The Routledge Companion to Interdisciplinary Studies in Singing: Vol 3 Wellbeing. London: Routledge.

Reference Type BACKGROUND

Linnemann, A., Schnersch, A., Nater, U. M. (2017). Testing the beneficial effects of singing in a choir on mood and stress in a longitudinal study: The role of social contacts. Musicae Scientiae, 21(2), 195-212.

Reference Type BACKGROUND

Ali N, Nater UM. Salivary Alpha-Amylase as a Biomarker of Stress in Behavioral Medicine. Int J Behav Med. 2020 Jun;27(3):337-342. doi: 10.1007/s12529-019-09843-x.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 31900867 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

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Grebosz-Haring SingingStudy

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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