The effect of music and drama therapy on cognitive and social functioning in people diagnosed with schizophrenia: the power of art

Background This study investigated the effects of music and drama therapy on cognitive and social functioning and social cognition in participants.Methods Ten people given a diagnosis of schizophrenia were assigned to drama therapy and seven to music therapy. They were administered a sociodemographic form, the Social Functioning Assessment Scale, the Observable Social Cognition Rating Scale, the Mini Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (8-item version), and the Kocaeli Cognitive Assessment Scale at baseline and at week 8.Results Statistically significant differences were observed between baseline and week 8 scores for SFAS-Self-Care (p = 0.002), SFAS-Interpersonal Relationships and Entertainment (p < 0.001), SFAS-Total (p < 0.001), Mini-PANSS-8-Negative (p = 0.009), KoBDÖ (p < 0.001), and OSCARS (p = 0.005); the differences between the pre- and post-scale scores for the other scales were not significant (p > 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between the drama therapy and music therapy groups in terms of baseline scale scores (p > 0.05). Similarly, there was no statistically significant difference in scale scores measured in the 8th week between these two groups (p > 0.05).Discussion Based on the results of our study, it is hypothesized that drama and music therapy may have therapeutic efficacy in alleviating negative symptoms and improving social cognition and cognitive abilities in schizophrenia.