Assessment of Music Experiences in Navigating Depression (AMEND)

Assessment of Music Experiences in Navigating Depression (AMEND)

The study team sought to scientifically investigate strategic subsets of depressed individuals or people prone to or at-risk of depression through music experiences of individual, group, and blended supported contexts. Meetings with the study multi-disciplinary team, included member of the Carnegie Hall Weill Music Institute and University affiliates, where the study team gathered quantitative and qualitative data in individual and group forums, measuring disease process and levels of participation. Through tabulation of participatory options with standardized depression and resilience measurements, the study team studied how live music could alter depressive symptoms over time and/ or change negative influencers of mood, shift quality of life, and lead toward possibly enhanced disease trajectory outcomes.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Depression
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Wellness Concerts; Behavioral: Music therapy

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 84
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • New York
    • New York, New York, United States, 10003
      • Mount Sinai Union Square

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Participants between the ages of 8-70 years with a clinical diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder (MOD) who met the DSM-5 (2013) criteria for a Major Depressive Episode, and/or who identify themselves, or are identified by family, or referring clinicians as depressed, or are prone to depression
• Depressive episodes and/or showing symptoms of mild to moderate depression intensity
• Self-reported satisfactory bilateral hearing
• English or Spanish language fluency sufficient to complete the interviews and questionnaires

Exclusion Criteria:

• Axis I diagnosis, aside from MOD, considered the primary diagnosis
• Bipolar Disorder Type I or II,
• Axis II diagnosis such as antisocial or borderline.
• Arrhythmia,
• Pacemaker
• Prolapsed vertebral disc, and
• Recent back or neck injuries.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Music Therapy; Music therapy session for 3 months once a week	Behavioral: Music therapy; Independent music therapy 45-minute sessions provided weekly for 3 months; Other Names: Music
Other: Wellness Concerts; Participants attended wellness concerts.	Other: Wellness Concerts; Wellness Concerts provided at partner sites (Carnegie Hall Weill Music Institute, Cooper Union College, Third Street Music Settlement).

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC)	The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) measures inherent resiliency. The 10-item instrument has high internal consistency. Each item consists of a 5-point Likert scale (scored from zero to four). Ranging from 0-40 with higher scores reflecting greater perceived resilience.	end of study at 3 months
Child Depression Inventory	The total score range 0 to 54 which is converted to a T-Score, higher score indicates more symptoms.	end of study at 3 months
The Beck Depression Inventory Second Edition (BDI-II) score	The Beck Depression Inventory Second Edition (BDI-II) is a multiple-choice self-report inventory that assesses severity of depression. The BDI-II contains 21 items on a 4-point scale from 0 (symptom absent) to 3 (severe symptoms). The minimum score is 0 and the maximum score is 63, with a higher score indicating more severe depressive symptoms.	end of study at 3 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
• Collaborators: Carnegie Hall Weill Music Institute; Cooper Union College; Third Street Music Settlement
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Joanne Loewy, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 5, 2023
• Primary Completion (Actual): March 24, 2025
• Study Completion (Actual): March 30, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: April 4, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 4, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): April 11, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): October 20, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 15, 2025
• Last Verified: October 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Depression; Anxiety; Music Therapy; Music Assessment
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Behavioral Symptoms; Behavior; Anxiety Disorders; Depression; Therapeutics; Complementary Therapies; Patient Care; Psychotherapy; Behavioral Disciplines and Activities; Rehabilitation; Aftercare; Continuity of Patient Care; Sensory Art Therapies; Music Therapy
• Other Study ID Numbers: STUDY-22-01609; 1909623-38 (Other Grant/Funding Number: National Endowment for the Arts)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: Individual participant data that underlie the results reported in this article, after deidentification.
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: Beginning 3 months and ending 5 years following article publication.
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: Investigators whose proposed use of the data has been approved by an independent review committee ('learned intermediary') identified for this purpose. To achieve aims in the approved proposal. Proposals should be directed to Joanne.Loewy@mountsinai.org. To gain access, data requestors will need to sign a data access agreement. Data are available for 5 years at a third-party website (Link included in the URL field below)
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: STUDY_PROTOCOL; SAP; ICF

Study Data/Documents

1. Study Protocol

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No