Sound Bite-- a Therapeutic Song-writing Program

NCT07371962 | Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: HU-STA-00001726
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 120
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The research aims to investigate the effectiveness of the therapeutic song-writing program on young people with depressive symptoms. This study adopts a multicentre randomized control trial two arms research design. A randomised controlled trial will compare a typical 7-session therapeutic song-writing program with a waitlist-control group to determine whether the 7-session therapeutic song-writing program can produce better outcomes for young people with depressive symptoms, including improvement in depressive symptoms, self-stigma, self-esteem, sense of hope and social support at post-intervention. The 7-session therapeutic song-writing program will be delivered by trained and experienced social workers and helping professionals who are familiar with music therapy. A research staff, who does not involve in the group allocation and delivery of group intervention, conduct the intervention outcomes assessment of the participants before and after the intervention. Standardized assessment tools are used to assess the intervention outcomes. The ethical considerations of this study were reviewed and approved by the Human and Artefacts Ethics Sub-Committee of the City University of Hong Kong in 2025.

Conditions

Depression

Keywords

Young people; Depression; Therapeutic song-writing; Self-stigma; Hope; Randomized Control Trial

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• The Chinese Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-Youth (DASS-Y)

  The Chinese Depression Anxiety Stress Scale- Youth (DASS-Y; Cao et al., 2023) DASS-Y is a 21-item scale to assesses participants' self-reported depression, anxiety, and stress with good validity and reliability (Cronbach's α = 0.80 for the DASS-Y Anxiety subscale, 0.83 for the DASS-Y Depression subscale, 0.82 for the DASS Stress subscale, and 0.92 for the DASS-Y total scale). Each item (e.g. I felt down-hearted and blue) is scored from 0 (did not apply to me at all) to 3 (applied to me very much or most of the time). The scores are summed over the items with higher scores indicating a higher severity of symptoms

  It will be used before and after the intervention (over 7-weeks)

Secondary Outcomes (4)

• The Chinese Internalised Stigma of Mental Illness (ISMI)

  It will be used before and after the intervention (over 7-weeks)

• Chinese Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES)

  It will be used before and after the intervention (over 7-weeks)

• Chinese Hope Scale (HOPE)

  It will be used before and after the intervention (over 7-weeks)

• Chinese Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS)

  It will be used before and after the intervention (over 7-weeks)

Study Arms (2)

Intervention group

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Therapeutic song-writing program

Behavioral: therapeutic song-writing program

Waitlist Control Group

OTHER

Waitlist control group will receive will receive treatment as usual provided by the collaborative centres and secondary schools, including recreational activities and interest classes, at the initial stage and will receive the same therapeutic song-writing program at a later stage.

Behavioral: Waitlist control group

Interventions

therapeutic song-writing program BEHAVIORAL

The therapeutic song-writing program consists 7 session. One session will be conducted per week, with each session lasting for about 90 minutes. A social worker and a helping professional who is familiar with music therapy will be recruited to run the therapeutic song-writing program at a collaborative social service centre and school. A standardized program manual is designed by the research team. The social workers and helping professionals who run the therapeutic song-writing program will receive training and supervision on conducting the therapeutic song-writing program by the research team.

Intervention group

Waitlist control group BEHAVIORAL

Waitlist control group will receive will receive treatment as usual provided by the collaborative centres and schools, including recreational activities and interest classes, at the initial stage and will receive the same therapeutic song-writing program at a later stage

Waitlist Control Group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 13 Years - 24 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• aged between 13 to 24 years;
• having mild to moderate depression and/or anxiety as assessed using a standardized assessment tool, i.e. Chinese Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-Youth (DASS-Y) with a DASS-Y Depression score between 5 and 12;
• service users of The Salvation Army social service unit; and
• giving informed consent to this research work. For those aged below 18, parental consent will be obtained.

You may not qualify if:

• Those with severe depression (i.e. a DASS-Y Depression score ≥ 13) and/or severe anxiety (i.e. a DASS-Y Anxiety score ≥ 8) are excluded from this study.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• City University of Hong Kong: lead
• The Salvation Army, Hong Kong and Macau Command: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

City University of Hong Kong

Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong

RECRUITING

Related Publications (8)

• Peng W, Zhou Y, Chu J, Liu Z, Zheng K, Yao S, Yi J. Factorial and Criterion Validities of the Chinese Version of Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale Among Undergraduate Students. Psychol Res Behav Manag. 2024 Dec 5;17:4135-4144. doi: 10.2147/PRBM.S494452. eCollection 2024.

  PMID: 39654814 BACKGROUND

• Cao CH, Liao XL, Gamble JH, Li LL, Jiang XY, Li XD, Griffiths MD, Chen IH, Lin CY. Evaluating the psychometric properties of the Chinese Depression Anxiety Stress Scale for Youth (DASS-Y) and DASS-21. Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health. 2023 Sep 7;17(1):106. doi: 10.1186/s13034-023-00655-2.

  PMID: 37679819 BACKGROUND

• Wang K, Shi HS, Geng FL, Zou LQ, Tan SP, Wang Y, Neumann DL, Shum DH, Chan RC. Cross-cultural validation of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 in China. Psychol Assess. 2016 May;28(5):e88-e100. doi: 10.1037/pas0000207. Epub 2015 Nov 30.

  PMID: 26619091 BACKGROUND

• Li XH, Wong YI, Wu Q, Ran MS, Zhang TM. Chinese College Students' Stigmatization towards People with Mental Illness: Familiarity, Perceived Dangerousness, Fear, and Social Distance. Healthcare (Basel). 2024 Aug 27;12(17):1715. doi: 10.3390/healthcare12171715.

  PMID: 39273739 BACKGROUND

• Ho SM, Ho JW, Bonanno GA, Chu AT, Chan EM. Hopefulness predicts resilience after hereditary colorectal cancer genetic testing: a prospective outcome trajectories study. BMC Cancer. 2010 Jun 11;10:279. doi: 10.1186/1471-2407-10-279.

  PMID: 20537192 BACKGROUND

• Gee KA, Hawes V, Cox NA. Blue Notes: Using Songwriting to Improve Student Mental Health and Wellbeing. A Pilot Randomised Controlled Trial. Front Psychol. 2019 Mar 5;10:423. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00423. eCollection 2019.

  PMID: 30890979 BACKGROUND

• Duagi D, Carter B, Farrelly M, Lisk S, Shearer J, Byford S, James K, Brown JSL. Long-term effects of psychosocial interventions for adolescents on depression and anxiety: a systematic review and meta-analysis. EClinicalMedicine. 2024 Jan 5;68:102382. doi: 10.1016/j.eclinm.2023.102382. eCollection 2024 Feb.

  PMID: 38273890 BACKGROUND

• Baker FA, Tamplin J, MacDonald RA, Ponsford J, Roddy C, Lee C, Rickard N. Exploring the Self through Songwriting: An Analysis of Songs Composed by People with Acquired Neurodisability in an Inpatient Rehabilitation Program. J Music Ther. 2017 Mar 1;54(1):35-54. doi: 10.1093/jmt/thw018.

  PMID: 28391303 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Depression

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavioral Symptoms; Behavior

Central Study Contacts

Kim-wan Daniel Young, PhD

CONTACT

+85234428954; dkwyoung@cityu.edu.hk

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: INVESTIGATOR
• Masking Details: A research staff, who is blinded to the group allocation and does not involve in the delivery of group interventions, conduct the intervention outcomes assessment of the participants before and after the intervention.
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Professor

Model Details: A randomised controlled trial will compare a typical 7-session therapeutic song-writing program with a waitlist-control group. Intervention group. The therapeutic song-writing program consists of 7 sessions. One session will be conducted per week, with each session lasting for about 90 minutes. A social worker and a helping professional who is familiar with music therapy will be recruited to run the therapeutic song-writing program at a collaborative social service centre and school. A standardized program manual is designed by the research team. The social workers and helping professionals who run the therapeutic song-writing program will receive training and supervision on conducting the therapeutic song-writing program by the research team.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: January 20, 2026
• First Posted: January 28, 2026
• Study Start (Estimated): July 17, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): August 31, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): October 31, 2027
• Last Updated: April 22, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-04

Locations

HK (1)