Therapeutic Listening for Stress Reduction in Adolescents: A Mixed-Methods Pilot Study Comparing Binaural Beats and Singing Bowl Sound

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Adolescents with chronic academic stress may benefit from accessible, non-pharmacological approaches to stress management. In this mixed-methods pilot study, six Grade 11 students completed a randomized, counterbalanced within-subject crossover design to compare the immediate effects of binaural-beat and singing-bowl listening. Each condition was preceded by a 3-min baseline and followed by physiological, device-derived, subjective, and qualitative assessments. Outcomes were heart rate, heart-rate variability (RMSSD), NeuroSky-derived Attention and Meditation indices, self-reported positive affect, negative affect, calmness, and open-ended reflections. Physiological responses varied widely across participants and no clear condition-level advantage was observed for heart rate, RMSSD or affective ratings. Five of six participants showed an increased NeuroSky-derived Meditation-index change in response to singing-bowl listening. All six participants selected the singing-bowl condition as more effective in promoting relaxation. In the qualitative reflections, people more often described the listening to singing bowls as calming, immersive and compatible with breathing. The results are exploratory and do not demonstrate therapeutic superiority or neural entrainment. They propose that perceptual comfort, attentional engagement and individual listening experience may be important components of sound-based stress regulation in adolescents.