Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Research Protocols
Date Submitted: Oct 22, 2024
Date Accepted: Mar 28, 2025
Using music to promote Hong Kong young people’s emotion regulation and reduce their mood symptoms and loneliness: Protocol for a pilot randomised controlled trial
ABSTRACT
Background:
There remains research and practice gaps on reducing loneliness and mood symptoms among young people in Hong Kong.
Objective:
To evaluate an adapted version of the Tuned In music-based psychoeducation programme designed to reduce loneliness as well as depression and anxiety symptoms among young people by enhancing their emotion regulation skills.
Methods:
A group-based weekly programme during which participants will receive psychoeducation on emotion recognition and management of four categories of emotions: happiness and motivation (session 1); depression and loneliness (session 2); and anger, stress and anxiety (sessions 3 & 4). Music will be self-selected in this programme and serves as a tool to aid psychoeducation and group discussions, as well as provide a channel for participants to experience and practice social communication skills. Main outcome measures include: the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, Depression Anxiety Stress Scale, and De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale.
Results:
The project was successfully funded in February 2023 by the Health and Medical Research Fund in Hong Kong and commenced in August 2023. As of 16 September 2024, 316 completed questionnaires had been received through Qualtrics for screening purposes, with 89 participants considered eligible for the programme. Data collection is ongoing and the project is planned to conclude in August 2025, with results to be published thereafter.
Conclusions:
It is expected that participants will demonstrate improvements in emotion regulation and reductions in mood symptoms and loneliness after the intervention. Clinical Trial: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06147297
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