The Effectiveness of Music Therapy on Reducing Alexithymia Symptoms and Improvement of Peer Relationships

Abstract Introduction: Individuals with alexithymia are under the pressure of correlated physio-emotional stress that would not come out as speech. These problems prevent emotion regulation and make people incompatible in life. Method: The purpose of this study was examining the effectiveness of music therapy on reducing symptoms of alexithymia and enhancing peer relationships. The method was quasi-experimental with two experimental and control groups. Through multi-stage sampling, one hundred and eighty girls were screened for alexithymia’s symptoms. Thirty of the ۵۷ identified children, were selected randomly and assigned into control (n=۱۵) and experimental (n=۱۵) groups (mean ۱۱.۸ Years old) randomly in Isfahan, Iran. The instruments were the Rieffe’s Alexithymia Questionnaire for children and Sociometry for evaluating peer relationships. The music therapy was nine sessions which was done for the experimental group. Data was analysed with the repeated measure ANCOVA. Results: The results indicated that music therapy had a significant positive effect on reducing alexithymia in the experiment group (ES = -۰.۳۴, (OP = -۰.۹۲), while there was no significant change in the control group (p >۰.۰۵). The results stayed stable after two months follow-up. Although the results showed peer relationships, the helper dimension improved; other peer relationships, the popularity, and rejection, were not influenced significantly. Conclusion: In conclusion, music therapy positively affects reducing alexithymia symptoms of female preadolescents. Thus, using music therapy for reducing alexithymia symptoms is suggested.

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Keywords: Music therapy , alexithymia , peer relationships