The Effects of Meditation and Music on Stress in College Individuals

Abstract

Background: Stress is a universal experience, now more than ever due to an ongoing worldwide pandemic. Modern college students are not only faced with the external pressures of succeeding academically, but they’re also affected by a multitude of other variables that are causing their mental health to suffer. This social trend highlights the need for a simple, efficient, and immediate remedy for individuals suffering from these stressors. Objective: In this controlled study, we assessed the effects of two methods proven by existing research to have stress-relieving effects. Participating college students underwent music (Weightless by Marconi Union) and mindfulness meditation (Daily Calm) treatments. Methods: Ten college students were screened via a self-reporting questionnaire to identify any pre-existing conditions that may present as extraneous variables. Quantitative variables related to stress, such as alpha frequency waves and heart rate, were obtained during baseline and post-treatment stress-induced environments using an iWire EEG recorder and oximeter pulse monitor. Each individual underwent treatments for a duration of five minutes, each with noise-canceling headphones. Students were placed in an experimental stressor state induced by the Stroop test, which provided baseline stressor data. Subsequently, participants underwent each treatment, recording their heart rate before and after each. Upon each treatment’s conclusion, the Stroop test was administered again while alpha wave data was recorded. The final data set was analyzed using a repeated-measures Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) test and paired T-tests. Results: Participants’ data showed a decrease in both max-min and mean frequencies for both treatment methods, though the only statistically significant difference between baseline recordings was found in mean frequencies for meditation treatment. No significance or trend was found in changes in heart rate. Conclusions: We concluded that our hypothesis was not supported as the statistical tests showed a significant decrease in mean alpha wave frequencies between the baseline stressor and meditation data rather than that for music therapy. This is indicative of meditation’s greater effectiveness in increasing stress tolerance in participants, which lessened the effects of the controlled stressor event, generating lower alpha frequency waves. Upon experiment conclusion, possible sources of error were identified and varied between potential compounding effects of consecutively administered treatments and an inability of the Stroop Test (SCWT) to induce an adequate level of stress in all patients. In order to circumvent the aforementioned errors, we suggest a change in methodology in which treatments would be conducted on separate days and further research into the efficacy of the SCWT as an all-inclusive stress inducer.