Investigating the Effectiveness of Music Therapy on Anxiety Caused by Stuttering in Children Aged 4 to 12 Years in Yazd City, Iran

Fateme  Moqhimi; Mohsen  Saeidmanesh; Mohammad Reza  Yousefi

doi:10.18502/jmr.v18i4.16914

Fateme Moqhimi Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities, Science and Arts University, Yazd, Iran.
Mohsen Saeidmanesh Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities, Science and Arts University, Yazd, Iran.
Mohammad Reza Yousefi Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities, Science and Arts University, Yazd, Iran.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/jmr.v18i4.16914

Keywords: Music therapy; Anxiety; Stuttering; Child

Abstract

Introduction: This study evaluates the effectiveness of music therapy on anxiety caused by stuttering in children aged 4 to 12 years in Yazd City, Iran.

Materials and Methods: This is an experimental study with a pre-test/post-test design and a control group. The statistical population of the study consisted of 4-12-year-old children with stuttering referred to speech therapy centers in Yazd City, Iran, who were selected based on available sampling and divided into two equal groups, experimental and control, using a simple random method. The instrument of this research included the Spence children’s anxiety scale, parent version (SCAS-P). Children with anxiety in the experimental group underwent music therapy for ten 1-h sessions. To analyze the data, the SPSS software, version 24, was used and the significance level of the tests was considered 0.05. The statistical method of covariance analysis was used to analyze the research data.

Results: Based on the results of the analysis of covariance between the two control groups and the music therapy experiment, there was a significant reduction in the average level of anxiety (P<0.001, F=157.045) of children in the post-test stage.

Conclusion: Music therapy is effective in reducing the anxiety level of children with stuttering; therefore, it can be considered a complementary method to reduce children’s anxiety