Over two percent of adults experience obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) in their lifetime, and research on novel, effective treatments for this condition is needed. OCD is characterized by obsessions and compulsions spanning several domains including but not limited to cleanliness, evenness, and unacceptable or disturbing thoughts. Although there is a deficit of research on music therapy for people with OCD, preliminary research has indicated that music-based interventions and music therapy can help decrease anxiety, rigidity, obsessions, and compulsions in people with OCD. The purpose of this paper was to explore and develop music therapy interventions for people with OCD grounded in theories and concepts related to this diagnosis. The authors conducted a narrative literature review of interdisciplinary research on music therapy and OCD. In this manuscript, the authors reviewed three theories and concepts related to OCD and their applications to music therapy: evaluative conditioning, incompleteness and not just right experiences, and transdiagnostic theory. The authors used these theories to develop music therapy interventions to address areas of life that can be impacted by OCD identified in the Cognitive Assessment Instrument of Obsessions and Compulsions. Empirical research is needed to determine the efficacy, practicality, and generalizability of proposed music therapy interventions.

Despite evidence linking social connectedness (SC) and substance use disorders (SUD) treatment outcomes, there remains a gap in the literature about how people with SUD experience SC during music therapy. The purpose of this study was to understand how adults with SUD on an inpatient detoxification unit experienced SC during group-based songwriting. Participants were 12 adults with SUD who attended a single-group recovery-oriented songwriting session. After four sessions, we conducted individual semi-structured interviews with participants and used an inductive approach to thematic analysis to analyze interviews. Five themes emerged. The first two themes addressed how the songwriting session influenced SC: (1) songwriting facilitated participation and recognition of shared experiences with peers and (2) collaboratively creating a musical product was a positive experience that facilitated peer connections. Although not specific to the songwriting intervention, the final three themes described how social relationships, addiction, and recovery interacted and influenced each other more broadly: (3) addiction is associated with damaged relationships and isolation, (4) relationships and social support can aid or hinder recovery, and (5) reluctance to form relationships in treatment. Implications for clinical practice, limitations, and suggestions for future research are provided.

Background: Conditioning- and cue-induced craving theories indicate that music has the potential to induce substance craving. A better understanding of this phenomenon could enhance treatment and prevent misuse, relapse, and overdose. Objective: The purpose of this systematic review was to locate and examine studies using music to induce substance craving in humans. We sought to discover if music can induce substance craving as well as specific aspects of the music and how it was used. Method: Adhering to the PRISMA Statement and Checklist, we conducted a systematic review of literature on music-induced substance craving in nine databases. We extracted data from studies meeting our inclusion criteria, which related to substance craving induced by music and data based on music intervention reporting guidelines. Results: We reviewed 751 research outputs. A total of 33 articles meeting the inclusion criteria were found, indicating that various types of music can induce alcohol, cannabis, nicotine, and general substance craving. In most of the studies, music was used as a component of a mood induction technique or in a virtual reality setting that led to craving. There tended to be a lack of detail about the music itself and most authors did not adhere to music intervention reporting guidelines. In the majority of studies, the researchers selected the music to induce negative mood states so as to elicit craving. Conclusion: Music has the potential to induce substance craving. While the music used in studies varied considerably and tended to be well controlled from a research design perspective, the music was not based on the music psychology literature, and authors did not adequately report essential aspects of the music. Implications for clinical practice, limitations, and suggestions for future research are provided.

According to the Stress Vulnerability Model, affect regulation is crucial to manage stressors and promote recovery for adults with mental health conditions. Education regarding music-based affect regulation can be delivered in group formats using a transdiagnostic approach to increase access to services and vicarious learning. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine if there were between-diagnosis and between-substance differences in music-based affect regulation via the Brief Music in Mood Regulation Scale (B-MMR) and Healthy-Unhealthy Music Scale (HUMS) subscales in adults with mental health and substance use conditions. Adults with mental health ( n = 147) and substance use ( n = 221) conditions completed the B-MMR and HUMS. Analyses of variance were conducted with participants’ mental health diagnosis or primary substance as independent variables and the B-MMR and HUMS subscales as dependent variables. There were only significant between-substance differences in revival and discharge subscales, with participants addicted to heroin having higher mean scores than participants addicted to alcohol. No other result was significant. Due to an overall lack of between-group differences in diagnoses and substances, transdiagnostic theory has applications for educating adults with mental health and substance use conditions about music-based affect regulation in group formats.

Millions of people in the United States seek treatment for substance use disorders (SUD) each year, highlighting the importance of effective treatments for this social dilemma. SUD are characterized by long-term neurological changes and continued consumption of substances despite negative consequences. We conducted a narrative review of research highlighting the intersections between addictive substances and SUD, social connectivity, and music interventions. We found that addiction, social connectivity, and music interventions all affect the meso-corticolimbic pathway and endogenous opioid system. However, there remains a dearth of published empirical literature providing a rationale for music therapy to address social connectivity as a primary clinical objective among people with SUD. Based on our review, we developed a neurologically-informed model of music therapy for social connectivity among people with SUD. Implications for clinical practice, limitations, and suggestions for future research are provided.

Information is often paired with music to facilitate memory and learning. However, there is a lack of basic research investigating how visual and auditory presentation styles and musical elements might facilitate recall. The purpose of this study is to isolate and determine the effects of visual and auditory presentation styles and musical elements on working memory as measured by sequential monosyllabic digit recall performance. Recall was tested on 60 undergraduate university students during six different conditions: (a) Visual + Auditory Chant, (b) Visual + Auditory Melody, (c) Visual + Auditory Speech, (d) Auditory Chant, (e) Auditory Melody, and (f) Auditory Speech. There was a significant interaction between presentation style and musical element conditions. There were significant differences between auditory and visual + auditory conditions in the melody and speech conditions but not in the chant condition. In all cases, the auditory condition had more accurate recall than the visual + auditory condition, with recall differences largest during the speech condition. There was no significant difference between chant and melody but significant differences between chant and speech and melody and speech in the visual + auditory condition. In the auditory condition, recall accuracy was lower for speech than for melody or chant. There was no significant difference between chant and melody, chant and speech, or melody and speech in the visual + auditory condition. Congruent with existing research, the addition of visual input likely overloaded working memory resulting in worse recall. Implications for clinical practice, limitations, and suggestions for future research are provided.