Music engagement for stress and anxiety in adults during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused heightened mental distress globally. The purpose of this systematic review is to investigate the impact of music engagement on stress and anxiety in adults during COVID-19. Thirteen articles were included, encompassing 9,893 adults and reporting on seven forms of music engagement: music listening, singing, playing an instrument, watching music videos or virtual performances, dancing to music, composing, and externally-facilitated music interventions. The majority of articles concluded a beneficial impact of music on stress and anxiety among adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the seven studies that investigated stress, four (57.1%) reported that music had a positive impact on stress and, of the nine studies that investigated anxiety, six (66.7%) reported a positive impact on anxiety. A higher proportion of externally-facilitated music studies reported reductions in stress and anxiety compared to studies with participant-facilitated music interventions. Our systematic review demonstrates the potential feasibility of music to improve mental health outcomes during times of heightened psychological distress. However, given the limited quality of included articles and the high proportion of observational studies, further research is required to better elucidate the effect of music on stress and anxiety among adults during the COVID-19 pandemic.