Trial reportPloS one2022
The effects of music & auditory beat stimulation on anxiety: A randomized clinical trial.
Trial report in PloS one, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 4 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 21 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
The Effect of Iso-Principal Based Music Playlists on Anxiety
The Effects of an Adaptive Music Program on Psychosocial and Cognitive Functions of Older Adults: a Pilot and Validation Study
Assessment of a Novel Sound-based Treatment for Managing Distress Related to Tinnitus
The Effects of Audio-Based Therapy on Anxiety in Psoriasis
Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 43 citations in OpenAlex.
- Creative Arts Therapy for Anxiety, Depression, and Quality of Life in Cancer Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Psycho-oncology · 2026Pooled it
- Trial
- Effect of Binaural Beats on Anxiety and Tolerance in Patients Undergoing Upper Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Without Sedation: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of integrative and complementary medicine · 2024Trial
- The effect of music intervention on sedation in elderly patients undergoing transurethral resection of prostate under spinal anesthesia: a prospective randomized controlled clinical trial.Journal of anesthesia · 2023Trial
- Effects of white and pink noise administered before and during colonoscopy on pain and anxiety: a randomized controlled trial.Surgical endoscopy · 2026Article
- Effects of Immersive Natural Sound Stimulation With the Spherison Device on Anxiety Symptoms: A Case Series.Clinical case reports · 2026Article
- Article
- Investigating the dose-response relationship between music and anxiety reduction: A randomized clinical trial.PLOS mental health · 2026Article
- A scoping review of music-based digital therapeutics for stress, anxiety, and depression.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2026Review
- Article
- Article
- Entrainment of rhythmic tonal sequences on neural oscillations and the impact on subjective emotion.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Effects of Sound Interventions on the Mental Stress Response in Adults: Scoping Review.JMIR mental health · 2025Article
- An Integrative Review of Brainwave Entrainment Benefits for Human Health.Applied psychophysiology and biofeedback · 2025Review
- Binaural Pulse Modulation (BPM) as an Adjunctive Treatment for Anxiety: A Pilot Study.Brain sciences · 2025Article
- Beating stress: music with monaural beats reduces anxiety and improves mood in a non-clinical population.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- Put the control back in the control condition: are brown, pink, and white noise neutral control stimuli?Frontiers in neuroscience · 2025Article
- [Research advances on the application of music therapy in pain management of children with burns].Zhonghua shao shang yu chuang mian xiu fu za zhi · 2023Article
- Developing a music-based digital therapeutic to help manage the neuropsychiatric symptoms of dementia.Frontiers in digital health · 2023Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
objectivesMusic and auditory beat stimulation (ABS) in the theta frequency range (4-7 Hz) are sound-based anxiety treatments that have been independently investigated in prior studies. Here, the anxiety-reducing potential of calm music combined with theta ABS was examined in a large sample of participants.
methodsAn open-label randomized controlled trial was conducted with participants taking anxiolytics (n = 163). Participants were randomly assigned using the Qualtrics randomizer algorithm, to a single session of sound-based treatment in one of four parallel arms: combined (music & ABS; n = 39), music-alone (n = 36), ABS-alone (n = 41), or pink noise (control; n = 47). Pre- and post-intervention somatic and cognitive state anxiety measures were collected along with trait anxiety, personality measures and musical preferences. The study was completed online using a custom application.
resultsBased on trait anxiety scores participants were separated into moderate and high trait anxiety sub-groups. Among participants with moderate trait anxiety, we observed reductions in somatic anxiety that were greater in combined and music-alone conditions than in the pink noise condition; and reductions in cognitive state anxiety that were greater in the combined condition than in the music-alone, ABS-alone, and pink noise conditions. While we also observed reductions in somatic and cognitive state anxiety in participants with high trait anxiety, the conditions were not well differentiated.
conclusionsSound-based treatments are effective in reducing somatic and cognitive state anxiety. For participants with moderate trait anxiety, combined conditions were most efficacious.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.