Singing modulates mood, stress, cortisol, cytokine and neuropeptide activity in cancer patients and carers

The health benefits of participatory arts are increasingly recognised, with a growing evidence base. [1][2][3] Nevertheless, it is important to improve understanding of the mechanisms by which artmaking may improve health and wellbeing in order to both build supporting explanatory models and to improve the efficacy of public health interventions. This article focuses on art-making as a personal resource in everyday life and its associations with psychological indices of wellbeing (both 'in the moment' and longer term), in order to explore the psychological mechanisms by which art-making promotes wellbeing in this context. it does so using a novel protocol in the arts and health -experiencesampling methodology (eSM).

Purpose Clift and Morrison (2011) report that weekly singing over eight months for people with enduring mental health issues led to clinically important reductions in mental distress. The purpose of this paper is to test the robustness of the earlier findings. Design/methodology/approach Four community singing groups for people with mental health issues ran weekly from November 2014 to the end of 2015. Evaluation place over a six-month period using two validated questionnaires: the short Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation (CORE-10) questionnaire, and the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS). Findings In all, 26 participants completed baseline and follow-up questionnaires. CORE-10 scores were significantly reduced, and WEMWBS scores significantly increased. Comparisons with the earlier study found a similar pattern of improvements on CORE items that are part of the “problems” sub-scale in the full CORE questionnaire. There was also evidence from both studies of participants showing clinically important improvements in CORE-10 scores. Research limitations/implications The main limitations of the study are a small sample size and the lack of a randomised control group. Originality/value No attempts have been made previously to directly test the transferability of a singing for health model to a new geographical area and to evaluate outcomes using the same validated measure.

a b s t r a c tExtended music lessons have been suggested to reduce stress responses, and to increase well-being in primary school children. We investigated this assumption with regard to the provocation of aggressive behavior in primary school children (N ¼ 34; 7e8 years of age). A computerized modified version of the Point-Subtraction Aggression Game ('Stimulated Aggression by Virtual Opponent'; SAVO) was used in this sample. Self-report (Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, PANAS) and physiological measures including systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), heart rate (HR), and saliva cortisol concentrations were recorded before, during, and after the SAVO task. For the following 18 months, one group of children received weekly sessions of extended instrumental music lessons (n ¼ 14; music group), while a control group received natural science training (n ¼ 20; control group). A set of repeated measures analyses of variance (ANOVAs) did not show any differences in physiological measures between groups. Moreover, only children in the control group, but not music children, showed a significant increase of reactive aggressive behavior after the SAVO task. These results suggest that music training positively modulates reactive aggressive behavior in primary school children.