Effects of structured music therapy on anxiety and mood in pediatric oncology patients

Children receiving cancer treatment frequently experience anxiety, mood disturbances, and symptom burden during hospitalization. This study examined structured music therapy in relation to anxiety, mood, and symptom burden among hospitalized pediatric oncology patients aged 6-12 years.

This quasi-experimental, non-randomized, single-group sequential control-phase/intervention-phase repeated-measures pretest-posttest study was conducted in a pediatric hematology-oncology unit in Türkiye between December 2024 and November 2025. Thirty children were first observed during a routine-care control phase and then participated in a structured music therapy phase. The intervention included four individual sessions delivered twice weekly over two weeks. Outcomes were assessed at matched twice-weekly measurement points across both phases using the State Anxiety Scale for Children, Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire-Child Form, Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire-Parent Form, and Symptom Screening in Pediatrics Tool. Repeated-measures ANOVA examined condition, time, and condition × time effects. Effect sizes were reported using partial eta squared (ηp²). The study was not prospectively registered.

Anxiety showed significant condition, time, and condition × time effects (ηp² = 0.607, 0.136, and 0.226, respectively), suggesting a favorable anxiety-related pattern during the structured music therapy phase. Child-reported mood showed significant condition and time effects, whereas parent-reported mood and symptom burden showed significant condition effects only. Non-significant interaction effects were interpreted cautiously. These findings indicate associations and favorable trends rather than definitive causal effects and require confirmation in larger randomized multicenter studies with follow-up.

Structured music therapy may be a feasible supportive intervention associated with favorable anxiety-related outcomes and may support holistic, child-centered pediatric oncology nursing care when implemented through interdisciplinary collaboration and standardized protocols.