Estimating the Effects of Music on Mental Health
Session Title
Other Abstracts
Faculty Mentor
Anna Romanova, Ph.D.
College
College of Business Administration
Department
Computer Science & Quantitative Methods
Abstract
Research shows that music can help lower the levels of depression and anxiety in individuals combating mental health issues, and music therapy is now recognized as an evidence-based practice for improving an individual’s overall mental health. In this study we attempt to further investigate the effects of music on mental health by analyzing the results from a survey of 737 respondents that describes their music listening habits and their scores across several mental health conditions. The survey was created and administered in 2022 by Catherine Rasgaitis, a Computer Science major from the University of Washington, and the survey results are available through Kaggle. We used regression modeling to estimate the effects of music on respondents’ mental health scores while controlling for potential confounders such as their age, gender, and musical background. We identified the most popular musical genres in terms of the reported listening time and the total number of listeners and evaluated their effects on the listeners’ mental health using the exploratory data analysis. We reported the most impactful musical genres for improving the overall mental health and specific mental health conditions including depression, anxiety, and OCD. The majority of musical genres showed a positive impact on the listeners’ mental health, with rock, pop, and metal having a stronger effect. Beats per minute (BPM) variable had a lot of missing values and was excluded from the regression analysis even though the exploratory data analysis suggested that it could be an important factor in reducing anxiety.
Course Assignment
BADM 571 – Romanova
Previously Presented/Performed?
Winthrop University Showcase of Undergraduate Research and Creative Endeavors, Rock Hill, SC, April 2023.
Start Date
15-4-2023 12:00 PM
Estimating the Effects of Music on Mental Health
Research shows that music can help lower the levels of depression and anxiety in individuals combating mental health issues, and music therapy is now recognized as an evidence-based practice for improving an individual’s overall mental health. In this study we attempt to further investigate the effects of music on mental health by analyzing the results from a survey of 737 respondents that describes their music listening habits and their scores across several mental health conditions. The survey was created and administered in 2022 by Catherine Rasgaitis, a Computer Science major from the University of Washington, and the survey results are available through Kaggle. We used regression modeling to estimate the effects of music on respondents’ mental health scores while controlling for potential confounders such as their age, gender, and musical background. We identified the most popular musical genres in terms of the reported listening time and the total number of listeners and evaluated their effects on the listeners’ mental health using the exploratory data analysis. We reported the most impactful musical genres for improving the overall mental health and specific mental health conditions including depression, anxiety, and OCD. The majority of musical genres showed a positive impact on the listeners’ mental health, with rock, pop, and metal having a stronger effect. Beats per minute (BPM) variable had a lot of missing values and was excluded from the regression analysis even though the exploratory data analysis suggested that it could be an important factor in reducing anxiety.
