Mental health vulnerability due to stress is increased in People of African Descent(PADs) in America due to disproportionate effects of racism, poverty, education, andcriminal justice sentencing. Various meditation and mindfulness approaches have providedevidence of measured reductions in multiple negative dimensions of stress. However, themajority of these studies do not have an adequate representation of PADs or othermarginalized groups and are not designed to be culturally relevant or community based.Music has been shown to alleviate multiple symptoms of stress and has been shown to be apreferred and effective support for meditation and mindfulness. However, its role instress management in PADs engaged in meditation or mindfulness is seldom studied. Thisstudy aims to evaluate the effects of a virtual, community-based music mindfulnessprogram on stress management in PAD community members with anxiety and depression duringCOVID19.2b. Social Music Study: Investigators will assess the neural mechanisms of feelings ofsubjective connectedness during communal music listening and creating between dyads ofsubjects who are both familiar and unfamiliar with each other.
The investigators also propose a study to investigate the effects of communal drumming in
reducing anxiety and increasing connectedness within drum circle community. Investigators
hypothesize that these intervention will lead to reductions in scores on stress scales
and will provide preliminary data for studies evaluating these types of community
programs as an adjunct to the standard of care.
Participants will be screened, consented, and enrolled in dyads in a paradigm in which
they will be positioned across from each other while listening to various types of music
(i.e. music that is harmonically-intact and music in which the harmonic content has been
randomly scrambled).
Survey data will also be collected to assess variables such as musical experience,
partner familiarity, perceived stress, etc.
Behavioral: Music
Participants in dyads will be positioned across from each other while listening to
various types of music (i.e. music that is harmonically-intact and music in which the
harmonic content has been randomly scrambled).
Inclusion Criteria:
- ages 16 and older
Exclusion Criteria:
- contraindications to functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy or Electroencephalography
- ages 15 and younger
BLOOM
New Haven 4839366, Connecticut 4831725, United States
Musical Intervention Studios
New Haven 4839366, Connecticut 4831725, United States
AZA Allsop, MD, PhD
240-422-3289
Aza.allsop@yale.edu
AZA Allsop, MD, PhD, Principal Investigator
Yale University