Music Program for Hong Kong Adolescents: Improving Emotion Regulation and Reducing Depression, Anxiety, and Loneliness

Anxiety Clinical Trial

Official title:

Using Music to Promote Young People's Emotion Regulation and Reduce Their Depressive and Anxious Symptoms and Loneliness: A Pilot Randomised Controlled Trial

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Recruiting

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT06147297
• Other study ID #: EA230395
• Secondary ID: 10211636
• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: December 18, 2023
• Est. completion date: August 17, 2025

Study information

• Verified date: October 2023
• Source: The University of Hong Kong
• Contact: Yuan Cao
• Phone: (852) 3917 2287
• Email: sallycao[@]hku.hk
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

This study is a clinical trial that aims to test and validate a music-based program called "Tuned In" in helping adolescents in Hong Kong improve their mental well-being. The researchers want to find out if the program can help participants enhance their ability to regulate their emotions, reduce mood symptoms and feelings of loneliness.

Participants in the study will be randomly assigned to either the group that receives the program right away (intervention group) or the group that waits for four weeks before receiving the program (wait list group). They will take part in a group-based weekly program for four weeks. Additionally, they will be asked to complete questionnaires before and after the program to see if there are any changes in their mental well-being. The program will be delivered by a facilitator with a psychology background, and a registered music therapist.

By addressing the gaps in mental health interventions for young people in Hong Kong, this study aims to contribute to the development of effective strategies to support their emotional well-being.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Recruiting
• Enrollment: 100
• Est. completion date: August 17, 2025
• Est. primary completion date: August 17, 2025
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 16 Years to 19 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• self-report as having problems with low mood, anxiety or loneliness

• score 3 or above on the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), which indicates psychological distress.

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Depressive Symptoms
• Emotion Regulation
• Loneliness

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Tuned In
The Tuned In programme is based on Russell's (1980) circumplex model of emotion, which categories emotions along the two dimensions of valence and arousal. Through psychoeducation and group discussions, participants in the programme first learn how to categorise their emotions in terms of intensity (i.e., arousal level) and positivity (i.e., valence). They then reflect on and develop a list of songs that they relate to personally and use them to increase or decrease the intensity and positivity of their emotions. In other words, the participants practise monitoring their emotional state and use music to help them modify how they feel. The programme will be conducted by a facilitator with a psychology background, and a registered music therapist.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Hong Kong	The University of Hong Kong	Hong Kong

Sponsors (4)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
The University of Hong Kong	Health and Medical Research Fund, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, The University of Queensland

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Hong Kong, 

References & Publications (13)

Dingle GA, Carter NA. Smoke into Sound: A pilot randomised controlled trial of a music cravings management program for chronic smokers attempting to quit. Musicae Scientiae. 2017 Jun;21(2):151-77.

Dingle GA, Fay C. Tuned In: The effectiveness for young adults of a group emotion regulation program using music listening. Psychology of Music. 2017 Jul;45(4):513-29.

Dingle GA, Hodges J, Kunde A. Tuned In Emotion Regulation Program Using Music Listening: Effectiveness for Adolescents in Educational Settings. Front Psychol. 2016 Jun 7;7:859. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00859. eCollection 2016. — View Citation

Dingle GA, Sharman LS, Bauer Z, Beckman E, Broughton M, Bunzli E, Davidson R, Draper G, Fairley S, Farrell C, Flynn LM, Gomersall S, Hong M, Larwood J, Lee C, Lee J, Nitschinsk L, Peluso N, Reedman SE, Vidas D, Walter ZC, Wright ORL. How Do Music Activities Affect Health and Well-Being? A Scoping Review of Studies Examining Psychosocial Mechanisms. Front Psychol. 2021 Sep 8;12:713818. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.713818. eCollection 2021. — View Citation

Hutchison AN, Yeung DY, Gerstein LH, Wettersten KB. Psychometric comparison of Chinese and English versions of the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire with bilingual Hong Kong Chinese students. Int J Psychol. 2021 Apr;56(2):296-303. doi: 10.1002/ijop.12699. Epub 2020 Jul 23. — View Citation

Leung GT, de Jong Gierveld J, Lam LC. Validation of the Chinese translation of the 6-item De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale in elderly Chinese. Int Psychogeriatr. 2008 Dec;20(6):1262-72. doi: 10.1017/S1041610208007552. Epub 2008 Jul 1. — View Citation

Leung MC, Cheung RY. Music engagement and well-being in Chinese adolescents: Emotional awareness, positive emotions, and negative emotions as mediating processes. Psychology of Music. 2018;48(1):105-19.

Li J, Han ZR, Gao MM, Sun X, Ahemaitijiang N. Psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS): Factor structure, reliability, and validity. Psychol Assess. 2018 May;30(5):e1-e9. doi: 10.1037/pas0000582. — View Citation

Li X, Shek DTL, Shek EYW. Psychological Morbidity among University Students in Hong Kong (2014-2018): Psychometric Properties of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS) and Related Correlates. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Aug 5;18(16):8305. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18168305. — View Citation

Liu W, Chen L, Tu X. Chinese adaptation of Emotion Regulation Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents (ERQ-CCA): A psychometric evaluation in Chinese children. Int J Psychol. 2017 Oct;52(5):398-405. doi: 10.1002/ijop.12233. Epub 2015 Nov 26. — View Citation

Liu WH, Wang LZ, Zhu YH, Li MH, Chan RC. Clinical utility of the Snaith-Hamilton-Pleasure scale in the Chinese settings. BMC Psychiatry. 2012 Oct 31;12:184. doi: 10.1186/1471-244X-12-184. — View Citation

Moussa MT, Lovibond PF, Laube R. Psychometric properties of a Chinese version of the short Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS21). Report for New South Wales Transcultural Mental Health Centre, Cumberland Hospital, Sydney. 2001.

Remmington NA, Fabrigar LR, Visser PS. Reexamining the circumplex model of affect. J Pers Soc Psychol. 2000 Aug;79(2):286-300. doi: 10.1037//0022-3514.79.2.286. — View Citation

* Note: There are 13 references in all — Click here to view all references

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Other	Anhedonia	The Chinese version of the Snaith-Hamilton-Pleasure scale (Liu et al., 2012) will be used to measure anhedonia.	Questionnaires will be administered before the start of the program, and immediately after the program (intervention group) or after 4 weeks of wait period (wait-list group)
Other	Program acceptability and feasibility	Furthermore, we plan to examine the acceptability of the program with the Hong Kong adolescents. This will be done using a combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches. Satisfaction ratings will be collected from the participants, on a 7-point Likert scale. The questions will be on the perceived usefulness of the program, the level of interest in the program, the likelihood of them recommending the program to other adolescents, and the likelihood of them to continue using music as an emotion regulatory strategy in the future (Dingle et al., 2016). We will also use open-ended questions to obtain feedback from the participants on their experiences of the program, and ask for suggestions for improvements for a future RCT. Furthermore, as feasibility indicators, we will also record the recruitment rate and dropout rate of this trial.	Questionnaire will be administered immediately after the program
Primary	Emotion Regulation Skills	To assess difficulties, strategies, and confidence in emotion regulation, we will use the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (Liu et al., 2015), Difficulties in Emotion Regulation scale, and select items from Dingle and Carter's (2017) program evaluation tool.	Questionnaires will be administered before the start of the program, and immediately after the program (intervention group) or after 4 weeks of wait period (wait-list group)
Secondary	Mood symptoms	The Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (Moussa et al., 2001; DASS-21) will be used to measure mood symptoms	Questionnaires will be administered before the start of the program, and immediately after the program (intervention group) or after 4 weeks of wait period (wait-list group)
Secondary	Loneliness	The Hong Kong version of the De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale (Leung et al., 2008) will be used to measure loneliness	Questionnaires will be administered before the start of the program, and immediately after the program (intervention group) or after 4 weeks of wait period (wait-list group)