The effect of musicotherapy on self-esteem, motivation and perceived stress levels of schizophrenia patients

This quasi-experimental study aimed to determine the effects of musicotherapy on the self-esteem, motivation and perceived stress levels of schizophrenia patients. It used a pretest-posttest design with no control group. The study population included the schizophrenia patients who were receiving follow-up care and treatment at the Çankırı Community Mental Health Center (N:441). Its sample consisted of all patients who met the inclusion criteria (n:30). The data were collected using a personal information form with 14 questions about the patients' sociodemographic and health-related characteristics, the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) to assess the patients' stress, self-esteem and motivation levels before and after musicotherapy and during the follow-up period, the Self Esteem Rating Scale-Short Form and the Client Motivation for Therapy Scale (CMOTS).The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (percentages, arithmetic means and standard deviations). The Friedman test was used to compare values measured before and after musicotherapy and during the follow-up period. The researcher collected the data during face-to-face interviews for the pretest, posttest and follow-up. During the musicotherapy, participants listened to the musical pieces in the Rast maqam live in the first session and on CDs in the next sessions. The musicotherapy was administered in eight sessions, two 60-minutesessionsa week for four weeks. The follow-up values were measured one month after the posttest to assess the effectiveness of musicotherapy. The patients' perceived stress levels were significantly lower, and their motivation and self-esteemlevels increased significantly after the musicotherapy sessions (p<0,05). Further studies are needed to administer musicotherapy as an adjuvant to medication and to include it in psychiatric nursing practice because it has a curative effect and is a complementary method. Key Words: Motivation, Music Therapy, Schızophrenıa, Self Esteem, Stress.