Emotional Sensitivity to Music in Adults in a Community Sample and in Adults with Substance Dependence

This thesis contains two studies investigating adults’ emotional responses to music. Study 1 involved the psychometric validation of a new measure of individual differences in emotional sensitivity to music, the Music Affective Response Scale (MARS), on a sample of N=384 self-selected community dwelling individuals. The MARS is a 15-item self-report scale that can be used as a screening measure to establish an individual’s suitability for music-based interventions. The results of a confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the original factor structure of the MARS, and the two subscales - MARS-Positive and MARS-Negative - showed adequate internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and convergent validity. Study 2 sought to answer some fundamental questions regarding how individuals with alcohol and other drug (AOD) dependence respond to music: (1) whether there are differences between people with AOD dependence and controls in emotional sensitivity to music (measured via the MARS), (2) whether these groups show different intensity of emotional response to relaxing, happy, and sad music, and (3) whether music listening can increase and reduce cravings to use substances in people with AOD dependence. These questions were investigated with a sample of n=19 AOD dependent residents of a therapeutic community and n=19 age and gender matched control participants. Results revealed no significant differences between groups in emotional sensitivity to music. Compared to controls, the AOD dependent group showed significantly less variation across relaxing, happy, and sad music in their emotional valence and arousal. After listening to a self-selected song related to their substance use, AOD dependent individuals’ cravings to use substances significantly increased, yet there was a significant decrease in cravings following listening to a self-selected song that helped them stay abstinent. These findings have implications regarding how music can best be used by people with AOD problems to promote recovery and minimise the probability of relapse.