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Effects of music interventions on stress-related outcomes

Music interventions are used for stress reduction in a variety of settings because of the positive effects of music listening on both physiological arousal (e.g., heart rate, blood pressure, and hormonal levels) and psychological stress experiences (e.g., restlessness, anxiety, and nervousness). To summarize the growing body of empirical research, two multilevel meta-analyses of 104 RCTs, containing 327 effect sizes and 9,617 participants, were performed to assess the strength of the effects of music interventions on both physiological and psychological stress-related outcomes, and to test the potential moderators of the intervention effects. Results showed that music interventions had an overall significant effect on stress reduction in both physiological (d = .380) and psychological (d = .545) outcomes. Further, moderator analyses showed that the type of outcome assessment moderated the effects of music interventions on stress-related outcomes. Larger effects were found on heart rate (d = .456), compared to blood pressure (d = .343) and hormone levels (d = .349). Implications for stress-reducing music interventions are discussed.

Effects of music interventions on stress-related outcomes

Music interventions are used for stress reduction in a variety of settings because of the positive effects of music listening on both physiological arousal (e.g., heart rate, blood pressure, and hormonal levels) and psychological stress experiences (e.g., restlessness, anxiety, and nervousness). To summarize the growing body of empirical research, two multilevel meta-analyses of 104 RCTs, containing 327 effect sizes and 9,617 participants, were performed to assess the strength of the effects of music interventions on both physiological and psychological stress-related outcomes, and to test the potential moderators of the intervention effects. Results showed that music interventions had an overall significant effect on stress reduction in both physiological (d = .380) and psychological (d = .545) outcomes. Further, moderator analyses showed that the type of outcome assessment moderated the effects of music interventions on stress-related outcomes. Larger effects were found on heart rate (d = .456), compared to blood pressure (d = .343) and hormone levels (d = .349). Implications for stress-reducing music interventions are discussed.

Meaningful leisure and tourism experiences as catalysts for wellbeing.

Sympathetic Distrust: Liberalism and the Sexual Autonomy of Women

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Music therapy interventions for stress reduction in adults with mild intellectual disabilities

Stress is increasingly being recognized as one of the main factors that is negatively affecting our health, and therefore there is a need to regulate daily stress and prevent long-term stress. This need seems particularly important for adults with mild intellectual disabilities (MID) who have been shown to have more difficulties coping with stress than adults without intellectual disabilities. Hence, the development of music therapy interventions for stress reduction, particularly within populations where needs may be greater, is becoming increasingly important. In order to gain more insight into the practice-based knowledge on how music therapists lower stress levels of their patients with MID during music therapy sessions, we conducted focus group interviews with music therapists working with adults with MID (N = 13) from different countries and clinical institutions in Europe. Results provide an overview of the most-used interventions for stress reduction within and outside of music. Data-analysis resulted in the further specification of therapeutic goals, intervention techniques, the use of musical instruments, and related therapeutic change factors. The main findings indicate that music therapists used little to no receptive (e.g., music listening) interventions for stress reduction, but preferred to use active interventions, which were mainly based on musical improvisation. Results show that three therapy goals for stress relief could be distinguished. The goal of “synchronizing” can be seen as a sub goal because it often precedes working on the other two goals of “tension release” or “direct relaxation,” which can also be seen as two ways of reaching stress reduction in adults with MID through music therapy interventions. Furthermore, the tempo and the dynamics of the music are considered as the most important musical components to reduce stress in adults with MID. Practical implications for stress-reducing music therapy interventions for adults with MID are discussed as well as recommendations for future research.

Influencing behaviour for safe working environments

Safety at work The objective of the project Safety at Work is to increase safety at the workplace by applying and combining state of the art artefacts from personal protective equipment and ambient intelligence technology. In this state of the art document we focus on the developments with respect to how (persuasive) technology can help to influence behaviour in a natural, automatic way in order to make industrial environments safer. We focus on personal safety, safe environments and safe behaviour. Direct ways to influence safety The most obvious way to influence behaviour is to use direct, physical measures. In particular, this is known from product design. The safe use of a product is related to the characteristics of the product (e.g., sharp edges), the condition of people operating the product (e.g., stressed or tired), the man-machine interface (e.g., intuitive or complex) and the environmental conditions while operating the product (e.g., noisy or crowded). Design guidelines exist to help designers to make safe products. A risk matrix can be made with two axis: product hazards versus personal characteristics. For each combination one might imagine what can go wrong, and what potential solutions are. Except for ‘design for safety’ in the sense of no sharp edges or a redundant architecture, there is a development called ‘safety by design’ as well. Safety by design is a concept that encourages construction or product designers to ‘design out’ health and safety risks during design development. On this topic, we may learn from the area of public safety. Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (or Designing Out Crime) is a multi-disciplinary approach to deterring criminal behaviour through environmental design. Designing Out Crime uses measures like taking steps to increase (the perception) that people can be seen, limiting the opportunity for crime by taking steps to clearly differentiate between public space and private space, and promoting social control through improved proprietary concern. Senses Neuroscience has shown that we have very little insight into our motivations and, consequently, are poor at predicting our own behaviour. It seems emotions are an important predictor of our behaviour. Input from our senses are important for our emotional state, and therefore influence our behaviour in an ‘ambient’ (invisible) way. The first sense we focus on is sight. Sight encompasses the perception of light intensity (illuminance) and colours (spectral distribution). Several researchers have studied the effects of light and colour in working environments. Results show, e.g., that elderly people can be helped with higher light levels, that cool colours like blue and green have a relaxing effect, while long-wavelength colours such as orange and red are stimulating and give more arousal, and that concentration and motivation of pupils at school can be influenced with light and colour settings. Identically, sound (hearing) has physiological effects (unexpected sounds cause extra cortisol -the fight or flight hormone- and the opposite for soothing sounds), psychological effects (sounds effect our emotions), cognitive effects (sounds effect our concentration) and behavioural effects (the natural behaviour of people is to avoid unpleasant sounds, and embrace pleasurable sounds). Smell affects 75% of daily emotions and plays an important role in memory, itis also important as a warning for danger (gas, burning smell). Research has shown that smell can influence work performance. Haptic feedback is a relative new area of research, and most studies focus on haptic feedback on handheld and automotive devices. Finally, employers have a duty to take every reasonable precaution to protect workers from heat stress disorders. Influence mechanisms: Cialdini To influence behaviour, we may learn from marketing psychology. Robert Cialdini states that if we have to think about every decision