Tailored Ecological Momentary Music Intervention for Stress Reduction

NCT05829031 | Terminated

• 1 other identifier: EMMI-T Main
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 39
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Ethnic discrimination is associated with mental and physical health impairments. In view of the negative impact of discrimination on health, it is of great importance to investigate interventions to counteract these negative effects. Based on findings of a pilot study (clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT04957966), this study investigates the effectiveness of a tailored ecological momentary music intervention to reduce biological (salivary cortisol, salivary alpha-amylase) and psychological (perceived stress, perceived ethnic discrimination) stress reactions after discriminatory and/or stressful events in the daily life of Turkish immigrant women (N = 50, age range 18-65 years). An intra-individually randomized design will be used, i.e., participants will be assigned on a random basis either to intervention events (they can choose to listen to music for the duration of 10 or 20 minutes) or to control events (participants are instructed to not listen to music). The whole study period consists of 35 days with a baseline period (week 1), intervention period (week 2-4), and post period (week 5).

Conditions

Stress, Psychological; Stress, Physiological; Discrimination, Racial

Keywords

Ecological Momentary Intervention; Music; Stress reduction; Discrimination; Cortisol; Alpha-Amylase

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Change in Subjective Stress Experience

  Momentary stress level: visual analogue scales (VAS; 0-100, higher scores indicate a greater level of momentary stress)

  from baseline period (week 1) to post period (week 5); during the course of the intervention: T0: directly after a stressful/discriminatory event, T1: 20 minutes after T0

• Change in Short-Term Neuroendocrine Stress: Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis

  Biological Marker: Salivary Cortisol

  from baseline period (week 1) to post period (week 5); during the course of the intervention: T0: directly after a stressful/discriminatory event, T1: 20 minutes after T0

• Change in Short-Term Neuroendocrine Stress: Autonomic Nervous System

  Salivary Alpha-Amylase

  from baseline period (week 1) to post period (week 5); during the course of the intervention: T0: directly after a stressful/discriminatory event, T1: 20 minutes after T0

Secondary Outcomes (8)

• Change in positive and negative affect

  from baseline period (week 1) to post period (week 5)

• Change in fatigue

  from baseline period (week 1) to post period (week 5)

• Change in coping behavior

  from baseline period (week 1) to post period (week 5)

• Change in avoidance behavior regarding discriminatory events

  from baseline period (week 1) to post period (week 5)

• Change in anticipation of discriminatory events

  from baseline period (week 1) to post period (week 5)

Study Arms (1)

Music listening vs. No music listening

EXPERIMENTAL

Every participant will be randomly assigned (50:50) to one of the following two conditions: Music listening after a stressful and/or discriminatory event (i.e., intervention condition) or no music listening after a stressful and/or discriminatory event (i.e., control condition).

Behavioral: Targeted music listening

Interventions

Targeted music listening BEHAVIORAL

Participants listen to self-selected relaxing music. They can choose between a duration of either 10 minutes or 20 minutes.

Music listening vs. No music listening

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 65 Years
• Sex: female
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Turkish immigrants (1st or 2nd generation)
• Chronic ethnic discrimination (value of or above 104 on the Everyday Discrimination Scale)
• years
• sex: female

You may not qualify if:

• Insufficient proficiency of the German language
• Body mass index (BMI) above 30 kg/m2
• Schizophrenia
• Substance-induced disorder in the past 2 years
• Chronic somatic diseases
• Medical conditions or medications known to affect endocrine or autonomic functioning
• Abuse of alcohol in the past 6 months
• Drug use in the past year, cannabis use in the past 14 days
• Pregnancy
• Breastfeeding
• Impaired hearing or absolute pitch

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Vienna: lead

Study Sites (1)

University of Vienna

Vienna, Vienna, 1010, Austria

Location

Related Publications (13)

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  BACKGROUND

• Chrousos GP. Stress and disorders of the stress system. Nat Rev Endocrinol. 2009 Jul;5(7):374-81. doi: 10.1038/nrendo.2009.106. Epub 2009 Jun 2.

  PMID: 19488073 BACKGROUND

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  PMID: 16982392 BACKGROUND

• Harnois CE. Are perceptions of discrimination unidimensional, oppositional, or intersectional? Examining the relationship among perceived racial-ethnic-, gender-, and age-based discrimination. Sociol Perspect 2014;57:470-87.

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• Lewis TT, Cogburn CD, Williams DR. Self-reported experiences of discrimination and health: scientific advances, ongoing controversies, and emerging issues. Annu Rev Clin Psychol. 2015;11:407-40. doi: 10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-032814-112728. Epub 2015 Jan 2.

  PMID: 25581238 BACKGROUND

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  PMID: 19586161 BACKGROUND

• Schlotz W. Investigating associations between momentary stress and cortisol in daily life: What have we learned so far? Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2019 Jul;105:105-116. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2018.11.038. Epub 2018 Nov 27.

  PMID: 30503527 BACKGROUND

• Schmitt MT, Branscombe NR, Postmes T, Garcia A. The consequences of perceived discrimination for psychological well-being: a meta-analytic review. Psychol Bull. 2014 Jul;140(4):921-48. doi: 10.1037/a0035754. Epub 2014 Feb 17.

  PMID: 24547896 BACKGROUND

• Seaton EK, Tyson K. The Intersection of Race and Gender Among Black American Adolescents. Child Dev. 2019 Jan;90(1):62-70. doi: 10.1111/cdev.13093. Epub 2018 May 19.

  PMID: 29777539 BACKGROUND

• Smets EM, Garssen B, Bonke B, De Haes JC. The Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI) psychometric qualities of an instrument to assess fatigue. J Psychosom Res. 1995 Apr;39(3):315-25. doi: 10.1016/0022-3999(94)00125-o.

  PMID: 7636775 BACKGROUND

• Hirsch S, Nater UM, Mewes R. Smartphone-based ecological momentary music intervention to reduce stress in Turkish immigrant women: protocol. BMJ Open. 2025 Apr 5;15(4):e090518. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-090518.

  PMID: 40187786 DERIVED

Related Links

• clinicaltrials.gov registration of the corresponding pilot study

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Stress, Psychological; Racism

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavioral Symptoms; Behavior; Prejudice; Social Behavior; Social Discrimination

Study Officials

• Ricarda Nater-Mewes, Dr. Dr.

  University of Vienna

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Urs Nater, Prof.

  University of Vienna

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Professor

Model Details: Intra-individually randomized design: Participants will be randomly assigned (50:50) to either the intervention condition or the control condition

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: April 12, 2023
• First Posted: April 25, 2023
• Study Start: May 1, 2023
• Primary Completion: August 12, 2025
• Study Completion: August 12, 2025
• Last Updated: August 19, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-03

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

AU (1)