136. A study on the impact of nursing interventions integrating piano training on anxiety disorders in adolescents

Abstract Background Clinical outcomes of adolescent anxiety disorders vary widely, with about 25% developing persistent anxiety or comorbid depression within 2 ~ 3 years. Early identification of psychological and neurophysiological markers predicting symptom worsening is essential for targeted intervention. Evidence indicates that anxiety involves dysfunction in emotional processing and attention regulation, driven by prefrontal-limbic imbalance. Piano training, as an active music-based intervention, may enhance autonomic stability through rhythm engagement and emotional expression. Therefore, this study introduced structured piano training into routine psychological care to explore the impact of this piano training intervention on anxiety symptoms and heart rate variability (HRV) in adolescents, providing empirical support for early non-pharmacological intervention for anxiety disorders. Methods This study included 120 clinically diagnosed adolescents with anxiety disorders, aged 13-18 years, who were randomly divided into an experimental group (n = 60) and a control group (n = 60). Both groups received routine care, including psychological counseling, sleep and exercise management. The experimental group received an additional 8-week piano training intervention, three times a week for 45 minutes each time. Psychological assessments were conducted before and after the intervention using the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) and the State–Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Standard Deviation of Normal to Normal Intervals (SDNN) was also collected. Data were statistically analyzed using SPSS 26.0. Paired t-tests were used for within-group comparisons, and independent samples t-tests were used for between-group comparisons. A p< .05 was considered statistically significant. Results The changes in various indicators before and after the intervention in both groups are shown in Table 1. After the intervention, the SAS score in the experimental group significantly decreased from 62.8 ± 5.9 to 45.6 ± 4.3, the STAI state anxiety score decreased from 61.3 ± 6.2 to 42.1 ± 5.0, and the trait anxiety score decreased from 58.7 ± 5.8 to 41.4 ± 4.7. All scores were significantly lower than the corresponding values in the control group (p<.001). HRV analysis showed that the SDNN in the experimental group increased from 92.3 ± 11.6 ms to 116.8 ± 12.5 ms (p<.001). Discussion Nursing interventions integrating piano training can effectively reduce the psychological anxiety level and improve autonomic nervous function in adolescents with anxiety disorders. The results suggest that the combined effect of music rhythm and emotion regulation can promote the positive remodeling of prefrontal-limbic neural circuits, thereby achieving psychological stability and physical relaxation. This method can serve as an auxiliary intervention in the psychological care of adolescents in schools and communities. Future research can further explore the mechanism of personalized music feature matching and its long-term follow-up effects to construct a more comprehensive emotional rehabilitation nursing system.