Efficacy of Music Therapy on Adolescents with Depressive Symptoms

Adolescents in the USA are experiencing increasing rates of depressive symptoms each year, resulting in a variety of emotional, social, neurological, and behavioral problems. Current traditional treatments are limited in their ability to reduce symptoms of depression. In the past few decades, music therapy has emerged as a viable treatment for depression and its comorbidities across various age groups and demographics. Music therapy is a unique form of clinical and evidence-based treatment characterized by a relationship between the music therapist and patient to address the patients’ needs through various methods such as song-writing, listening, and/or singing. This literature review analyzes a wide range of qualitative and quantitative sources studying various cohorts and contexts to examine the efficacy of music therapy for treating adolescent depression in comparison to traditional treatments. We found that most sources concluded that music therapy is more effective than traditional treatments and can be used as a supplement to such treatments. Music therapy has multiple positive socio-emotional, behavioral, and neurological effects, particularly for adolescents with depressive symptoms. Furthermore, many studies noted improvements in the comorbidities and related disorders of depression. In the future, studies should be conducted with standardized trials focusing specifically on adolescents and music therapy treatments to refine therapeutic applications. In conclusion, we make the case that music therapy should be made more accessible to adolescents as a treatment option.