Reconsidering the role of music in mood regulation and its relation to age and gender differences in Serbian adolescents

Abstract

Background Adolescents spend a lot of time listening to music. Music has various functions in their development, and one of the most important is the regulation of emotions (McFerran et al., 2012; Miranda, 2019; Saarikallio & Erkkilä, 2007). A theoretical model that describes mood regulation thru seven regulatory strategies (Diversion, Revival, Mental work, Discharge, Solace, Strong sensation and Entertainment) was developed by Saarikallio and associates (2008). Adolescents who spend more time listening to music and consider it important use these strategies more often than those who appreciate music less (Saarikallio, 2008). It has also been shown that girls use these strategies more frequently than boys, as well as older adolescents than younger. These differences are not found in adulthood, which implies that regulation increases during adolescence and stabilizes at its end (Saarikallio, 2008). Aims The main goal was to examine the factor structure of the Brief Music in Mood Regulation scale (B-MMR; Saarikallio, 2012) in Serbian adolescents and to relate obtained factors to music appreciation and time spent on music listening. Also, we investigated gender and age differences since it hasn’t been done in our milieu yet. Method The convenient sample consisted of 445 primary and secondary school students aged from 12 to 18 years. The online survey included demographic data, questions about the importance and frequency of listening to music, and, finally, B-MMR (Saarikallio, 2012) – a shorter version of a scale measuring the seven strategies for mood regulation by music. Results Factor analysis (PAF, Promax rotation) is conducted on B-MMR items regarding music function in mood regulation. Firstly, PAF extracted 3 factors explaining 63.5% of variance (KMO = .944, χ2(120) = 3822, p < .001): Regulation of emotions (composed of five out of seven originally conceptualized strategies), Strong sensation of music and Entertainment. Since the correlation between the first two factors was high (above .70), a number of factors was fixed on two. Strong sensation factor merged with the Regulation of emotions – explaining 48.8% of variance, and Entertainment, as the second factor, explains 8.4% of the variance. T-tests showed that adolescents who spend more time listening to music and consider it more important use music to regulate their mood more often than their peers who don’t appreciate music that much. It is shown that girls use Regulation of emotions (t(214) = 5.264, p = .000, d = 0.568) and Entertainment (t(167) = 4.918, p = .000, d = 0.564) more often than boys. Also, older adolescents use both strategies more frequently than younger (t(154) = -2.192, p = .030, d = 0.336; t(129) = -2.173, p = .032, d = 0.337). Conclusions The results confirm age and sex differences from the previous studies and the relation between music appreciation and its usage in mood regulation (Saarikallio, 2008). However, the factor structure of B-MMR is different, which questions the original model conceptualization. Namely, the Entertainment dimension seems to be qualitatively different from the others. The implications of the findings are further discussed, and suggestions for future research will be given.