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Music-Making and Depression and Anxiety Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic--Results From the NAKO Cohort Study in Germany.

Authors :
Becher, Heiko
Krist, Lilian
Menzel, Juliane
Fernholz, Isabel
Keil, Thomas
Kreutz, Gunter
Schmidt, Alexander
Streit, Fabian
Willich, Stefan N.
Weikert, Cornelia
Source :
International Journal of Public Health (Frontiers Media S.A.); 2024, p1-9, 9p
Publication Year :
2024

Abstract

Objectives: To investigate the association of musical activity with mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A total of 3,666 participants reported their musical activity before and mental health indicators before and during the pandemic. Depression was assessed with the Patient Health Questionnaire, anxiety with the Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale. The association between mental health scores and musical activities was investigated using linear regression. Results: Within the last 12 months, 22.1% of the participants reported musical activity (15.1% singing, 14.5% playing an instrument). Individuals with frequent singing as their main musical activity had higher scores before the pandemic than non-musicians and the worsening during the pandemic was more pronounced compared to non-musicians. Instrumentalists tended to have slightly lower scores than non-musicians indicating a possible beneficial effect of playing an instrument on mental health. Conclusion: The pandemic led to a worsening of mental health, with singers being particularly affected. Singers showed poorer mental health before the pandemic. The tendency for instrumentalists to report lower depression scores compared to non-musicians may support the hypothesis that music-making has a beneficial effect on health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
16618556
Database :
Complementary Index
Journal :
International Journal of Public Health (Frontiers Media S.A.)
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
178328318
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3389/ijph.2024.1606993