The Impact of Group Singing on Mood, Coping, and Perceived Pain in Chronic Pain Patients Attending a Multidisciplinary Pain Clinic

This study explored the impact of group singing on mood, coping, and perceived pain in chronic pain patients attending a multidisciplinary pain clinic. Singers participated in nine 30-minute sessions of small group singing, while comparisons listened to music while exercising. A short form of The Profile of Mood States (POMS) was administered before and after selected singing sessions to assess whether singing produced short-term elevations in mood. Results indicated that pre to post difference scores were significantly different between singing and control groups for only one of the 15 mood variables (i.e., uneasy). To test the longer term impacts of singing the Profile of Mood States, Zung Depression Inventory, Pain Self-Efficacy Questionnaire, Pain Rating Self-Statement, and Pain Disability Questionnaire were administered immediately before and after the singing sessions. All inventories other than the POMS were re-administered 6 months later. One-way ANCOVAs indicated that participants who attended the singing sessions showed evidence of postintervention improvements in active coping, relative to those who failed to attend, when preintervention differences in active coping were controlled for. While the singing group showed marked improvements from pre to postintervention on all mood, coping, and perceived pain variables, these improvements were also observed among comparison participants. The results of this study suggest that active singing may have some benefits, in terms of enhancing active coping, though the limitations of the study and small effect sizes observed suggest that further research is required to fully explore such effects.