Italian Validation of the Barcelona Music Reward Questionnaire

Abstract

Music experience is considered a highly pleasant activity, with musical stimuli evoking emotions and activating reward brain circuits. The Barcelona Music Reward Questionnaire (BMRQ) evaluates the main facets of music experience that could describe individual differences in music-associated reward. In this work, we validated an Italian version of the BMRQ since only Spanish, English, and French versions are currently available. The original version was translated into Italian, adapted and validated following the methodology proposed in the original BMRQ. The questionnaire was administered to adult participants through an online survey. A total of 1,218 participants were considered for the analysis. Our primary factor analysis showed an overall good structural validity (goodness of fit index > .999). The reliability estimates of each facet varied from .839 and .930, with some items showing higher factor loadings for a different facet than the expected one. Similar findings resulted from an additional analysis performed on a restricted sample (age <= 30 years and upper secondary education level), more comparable with those of the other studies. The Italian BMRQ appears overall valid and reliable despite some differences with the previous studies, suggesting its applicability might be worth testing with different populations and contexts (e.g., clinical context).