Review: The effectiveness of musical therapy in improving depression and anxiety symptoms among children and adolescents – a systematic review

Background Depression and anxiety disorders are considered to be among the greatest burdens of disease in children and adolescents. Recent literature has reported music therapy to be a safe and potentially effective intervention for the treatment of depression and anxiety. This systematic review examined the effectiveness of music therapy in reducing the symptom severity of depression and/or anxiety among children and adolescents. Methods Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were obtained from a systematic search of nine major English databases from inception to January 2021. Studies were categorized by outcome, music therapy technique and follow‐up period. Results Seven RCTs ( n = 589) were included. Four RCTs had some concern of bias, while three had high risk of bias. Statistical pooling was not appropriate due to clinical heterogeneity. Four studies ( n = 428) favoured music therapy for improvement of depressive symptoms at short‐ and intermediate‐term follow‐ups compared to control. One study ( n = 106) favoured music therapy for improvement of anxiety symptoms at short‐term follow‐up compared to control. No studies favoured any control over music therapy for symptom improvement of depression and/or anxiety. Conclusion Limited evidence suggests music therapy is an effective treatment for improving depression and/or anxiety symptom severity in children and adolescents. More high‐quality RCTs are needed to address methodological flaws of current studies.