MoodyTunes: A single cohort study of a music-based smartphone app for mental health and mood regulation in young people

Sandra Garrido^1*Zareen O'Keeffe¹Anthony Chmiel^1,2Katherine Boydell^3,4Barbara Doran⁵Quang Vinh Nguyen¹

• ¹The MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University, Penrith, Australia
• ²Sydney Conservatorium of Music, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
• ³Black Dog Institute, University of New South Wales, Randwick, New South Wales, Australia
• ⁴Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
• ⁵Faculty of Transdisciplinary Innovation, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia

Mental health applications (apps) are proliferating to meet the needs of the increasing numbers of young people experiencing mental health challenges. However, many mental health apps for young people are either not evidence-based or fail to engage the interest of those who are not already receiving professional help. Since music listening is an activity that many young people are drawn to when experiencing high levels of psychological distress, MoodyTunes was developed to engage young people in learning about mental health within the context of their daily music listening activities. In this single cohort study, 70 participants aged 13-25 used MoodyTunes over a 4-week period. Pre-and post-intervention measures assessed mental health literacy, coping self-efficacy, depression, anxiety and stress levels. Results demonstrated a significant increase in mental health literacy and decreases in anxiety and stress. Depression was found to have decreased although not at a statistically significant level. No significant change in coping self-efficacy was found. These findings suggest that MoodyTunes may be an effective tool for improving mood regulation and psychological well-being in young people. Future research with larger, randomized samples and a comparative control group is recommended.