The Effects of Guided Imagery and Music on Depression and Beta-Endorphin Levels
McKinney, Cathy H., Antoni, Michael H., Kumar, Adarsh, & Kumar, Mahendra - Volume: 4
This pilot study explored the effects of a serieS of six weekly Guided Imagery and Music [GIM] sessions on mood state and plasma B-endorphin in healthy subjects. Eight healthy adults (21-45 years old) randomly assigned to control and experimental conditions completed the Profile of Mood States and donated a 10 ml blood sample before and after an 8-week GIM intervention period. There were no group differences in potential confounding variables such as age, physical activity levels, drug use, restful sleep, imaging ability, health locus of control subscale scores, or hassles intensity at baseline and the two groups showed no pre-treatment differences in anxiety, depression, or beta-endorphin (all Jl'S > .10). After the intervention we found that, controlling for individual differences in se}f..:..report bias (Marlowe Crowne Social Desirability Scale), experimental subjects were significantly less depressed (E 1 5 = 6.34, 2 < .05) though not significantly different from controls on B-endorphin levels (.E.'< 1.0). These preliminary findings suggest that a time-limited GIM intervention may affect depression levels in healthy individuals.