Recovery-Oriented Group Songwriting for Mental Health Confidence with Adults on an Acute Mental Health Unit: A Cluster-Randomized Effectiveness Study

Music therapy can address various clinical objectives related to recovery in acute mental health inpatient settings. However, there is a gap in the literature investigating if group-based songwriting can impact mental health confidence/self-efficacy. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the effects of a single-session recovery-oriented group-based songwriting protocol on adults hospitalized in an acute care mental health unit as measured by mental health confidence. Over 48 sessions, 128 participants were cluster-randomized to songwriting or control conditions. The songwriting condition addressed motivations for and pathways to recovery. To avoid testing fatigue in this single-session study, songwriting participants received the intervention and then completed the Mental Health Confidence Scale (MHCS) while control participants completed the MHCS and then received a music intervention that did not address recovery. Results indicated significant between-group differences in optimism, coping, and advocacy subscales as well as total mental health confidence. In all measures, the songwriting group had more favorable mean scores than the control group. Effect sizes were in the small and medium ranges. Despite the temporal limitations associated with single-session treatment germane to acute mental health settings, results were statistically significant and clinically relevant. Implications for clinical practice, limitations, and suggestions for future research are provided.