Music listening patterns and their associations with mood regulation, emotional processing, and cognitive...

Music is often played when university students are studying and during their daily activities, but most of the research to date in the field of music listening and academic performance has used self-report techniques. Implications for student wellbeing and academic success are summarized where listening patterns are used to understand mood regulation and academic cognitive performance in real-world settings.

The design of this study was intensive longitudinal (IL) using experience sampling methodology (ESM) with event-contingent sampling over the 14-day period. Hundred and twenty-eight university students filled out questionnaires that measured musical sophistication, alexithymia, personality and trait mood regulation at baseline, and then answered short questions on 5,448 music listening episodes. Within-person and between-person associations in relation to academic versus non-academic contexts were examined using multilevel modeling.

Using music for mood regulation was the strongest predictor of mood improvement (β = 0.87, p < 0.001), followed by active enjoyment (β = 0.54, p < 0.001), while focus purposes predicted perceived academic cognitive performance (β = 0.56, p < 0.001). Musical sophistication moderated the mood regulation-mood change relationship (β = 0.22, p = 0.006), while alexithymia reduced its effectiveness (β = -0.19, p = 0.035). Lyrics presence was detrimental to cognitive performance during high-demand academic tasks (β = -0.28, p = 0.005), whereas faster tempos enhanced performance (β = 0.19, p = 0.035). Conscientiousness moderated the focus-cognitive performance relationship (β = 0.21, p = 0.018).

Music listening patterns among university students are dynamically associated with mood regulation and academic cognitive performance in daily life, with effects moderated by individual differences including musical sophistication, alexithymia, and conscientiousness. These findings inform the development of personalized music-based interventions for student wellbeing and academic success.