The Effectiveness of Cognitive-Behavioral Music Therapy on Cognitive Emotion Regulation in the Elderly

Cognitive emotion regulation refers to the ability to manage personal emotional reactions through cognitive strategies that occur after an unfortunate event. Emotional dysfunction is thought to be common among the elderly due to their certain limitations. Cognitive-behavioral Music therapy (CBMT) seems to be capable to act as a bridge to new insights and behaviors. Hence, the aim of the current study was to determine the effectiveness of CBMT on cognitive regulation of emotion in the elderly. The present study was a quasi-experimental study with the pretest-posttest and a control group design. The statistical population consisted of all the elderly registered in the day care centers in Babol, Iran in 2019 among which one was selected using convenience sampling method. Out of 53 people eligible to participate in the study according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 30 were randomly assigned in two groups of experiment and control (each group with 15 people). Experimental group underwent six sessions of cognitive-behavioral music therapy, while no intervention was performed for the control group. The research tool was Garnefskis’s cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire. Data were analyzed using univariate analysis of covariance in SPSS-22 software. Findings indicated that CBMT resulted in cognitive regulation of elderly emotions (P<0.05). Based on the findings, CBMT can be applied as an effective model in counseling and psychotherapy centers for cognitive regulation of emotion in the elderly. This treatment method contributes to the cognitive control and the alteration of negative and self-defeating thoughts.