Music therapy interventions for eating disorders: Lack of robust evidence and recommendations for future research

Abstract

Music therapy (MT) has been used to support people with a variety of eating disorders (EDs), but it is unclear whether there is sufficient and robust evidence from controlled experimental studies. In this article, we report the results of a systematic review that summarises the evidence from published controlled studies where MT has been used to treat people diagnosed with any type of ED. Our results demonstrate that robust evidence concerning the effectiveness of MT for the treatment of EDs is severely lacking. Nonetheless, the evidence described in this paper warrants further investigation especially given that new treatment strategies for EDs are urgently needed. To this end, we offer a set of recommendations for future high-quality experimental studies that can inform the development of effective MT interventions and support for people with EDs.