Effect of Korean folk music intervention on schizophrenia inpatients' emotional behavior and interpersonal relationship functioning

Abstract

Schizophrenia can lead to inappropriate emotional behavior and issues with interpersonal relationship functioning as it becomes chronic. This study aimed to determine the effects of a Korean folk music therapy program on the emotional behavior and interpersonal relationship functioning of patients with schizophrenia. Twenty inpatients with schizophrenia in a psychiatric ward in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province were included in the experimental group, and 24 in the control group. The experimental group participated in a 15-session music therapy program, with two 50-minute sessions per week. For hypothesis testing, Wilks' Lambda based on sphericity testing was used to perform repeated measures ANOVA. The experimental group showed statistically significantly higher levels of emotional behavior ( F = 5.814, p < .020) and interpersonal relationship functioning ( F = 21.72, p < .001) than the control group, indicating that the Korean folk music therapy program was an effective intervention.