Use of Music Therapy for Enhancing Self-esteem among Academically Stressed Adolescents

The study aims to evaluate the efficacy of music therapy in enhancing the self-esteem of academically stressed adolescents. It was hypothesized that post-intervention scores on measure of selfesteem would be enhanced as compared to pre-intervention scores. A pre and post-assessment design was adopted. School form of the Self Esteem Inventory (Coopersmith, 1981) and academic stress scales of the Bisht Battery of Sterss Scales (Bisht, 1987) were used to identify 30 adolescents with low self-esteem and high academic stress. Music therapy was given for a period of 15 days. After intervention, self-esteem inventory was administered again to see the effects of music therapy. Results revealed that music therapy enhanced adolescent’s self-esteem as post-intervention scores of experimental group on self-esteem were high as compared to control group (t = 10.85, p < .01). Significant difference (t = 10.28, p < .01) was also found between pre and post-intervention scores of experimental group whereas control group didn’t show any statistical difference between its pre and post-intervention scores (t = 1.06).