Can the Affects Conveyed by Baroque Music Reduce Anxiety in Patients With Major Depressive Disorder ?

NCT04903522 | Completed

• 2 other identifiers: 2021-CHITS-0022021-A00216-35
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 18
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Major depressive disorder, or characterized depressive episode, is a common illness that limits psychosocial functioning and impairs quality of life. The initial goal of treatment for a major depressive episode is complete remission of depressive symptoms. The most commonly used treatments are antidepressants, psychotherapy or a combination of medication and psychotherapy. Music therapy can be considered as one of the complementary therapies in the treatment of the characterized depressive episode and many studies have shown a beneficial effect of musical interventions, even of short duration, on depression and anxiety. In depressive disorders, therapies such as hypnosis or phenomenological psychotherapies lead to modifications of consciousness during which the subject finds the means, notably non-reflexive and in the realm of the imaginary, to overcome anxiety. Generally speaking, in the field of musical cognition, it is considered that music affects the emotions. Unfortunately this approach is often insufficiently refined in cognitive psychology since it is most generally interested in the 6 fundamental emotions: joy, anger, fear, sadness, surprise, disgust. However, during the Baroque period (end of the 16th and 17th centuries), various philosophers and musicians analyzed with great finesse not these fundamental emotions, but more precisely the passions, or "shocks of the soul", that is to say the affects in their great diversity. These affects or passions are thus at the center of Baroque musical composition. In the Barhepsy project, it is suggested that listening to Baroque music, thanks to the rhetoric of the passions included in it, would allow the mobilization of the patients' affects and thus reduce their state of anxiety. During a follow-up consultation, the effects of a 30-minute "musical path" of baroque pieces will be evaluated, exemplifying the reduction of anxiety and the subsequent appeasement, on the conscious experience of subjects suffering from a characterized depressive state associated with anxious symptoms.

Conditions

Major Depressive Disorder

Keywords

Major depressive disorder; Musical intervention; Anxiety

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Anxiety assessed by State Trait Anxiety Inventory questionnaire

  the minimum value is 20 and the maximum value is 80. Higher scores mean a worse outcome, high level of anxiety.

  1 day

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Qualitative assessment scale of the fluency of consciousness (EQFC)

  1 day

• Experiential phenomenological interviews (EPE)

  1 day

• Depression assessed by Beck Depression Inventory-Second Edition (BDI-II) questionnaire

  1 day

Study Arms (1)

Depressive patients

EXPERIMENTAL

Patients suffering from major depressive disorder with anxiety symptoms

Behavioral: Baroque music listening

Interventions

Baroque music listening BEHAVIORAL

Patients will listen to a 30-minute "musical path" of baroque pieces. Before and after this, anxiety, depression and consciousness fluidity will be evaluated thanks to different questionnaires

Depressive patients

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Male or female over the age of 18
• Depressive state characterized by the DSM-V criteria
• Able to express his/her consent prior to participation in the study
• Affiliated to or beneficiary of a social security regimen

You may not qualify if:

• Deafness
• Suspected or diagnosed neurodegenerative disorder or other associated neurological pathology
• Comorbid psychotic disorder
• Pregnant women
• Patient under judicial protection (guardianship, curatorship...) or safeguard of justice
• Any other reason that, in the opinion of the investigator, would interfere with the evaluation of the study objectives

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Centre Hospitalier Intercommunal de Toulon La Seyne sur Mer: lead

Study Sites (1)

Centre Hospitalier Intercommunal Toulon La Seyne sur Mer

Toulon, Var, 83100, France

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Depressive Disorder, Major; Anxiety Disorders

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Depressive Disorder; Mood Disorders; Mental Disorders

Study Officials

• Manuel Dias Alves, MD

  Centre Hospitalier Intercommunal Toulon La Seyne sur Mer

  STUDY DIRECTOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: BASIC SCIENCE
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: May 19, 2021
• First Posted: May 26, 2021
• Study Start: May 28, 2021
• Primary Completion: February 17, 2022
• Study Completion: February 17, 2022
• Last Updated: April 13, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-04

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

FR (1)