Serious mental disorders have considerable individual and societal impact, and traditional treatments may show limited effects. Music therapy may be beneficial in psychosis and depression, including treatment-resistant cases. The aim of this review was to examine the benefits of music therapy for people with serious mental disorders. All existing prospective studies were combined using mixed-effects meta-analysis models, allowing to examine the influence of study design (RCT vs. CCT vs. pre-post study), type of disorder (psychotic vs. non-psychotic), and number of sessions. Results showed that music therapy, when added to standard care, has strong and significant effects on global state, general symptoms, negative symptoms, depression, anxiety, functioning, and musical engagement. Significant dose-effect relationships were identified for general, negative, and depressive symptoms, as well as functioning, with explained variance ranging from 73% to 78%. Small effect sizes for these outcomes are achieved after 3 to 10, large effects after 16 to 51 sessions. The findings suggest that music therapy is an effective treatment which helps people with psychotic and non-psychotic severe mental disorders to improve global state, symptoms, and functioning. Slight improvements can be seen with a few therapy sessions, but longer courses or more frequent sessions are needed to achieve more substantial benefits.

Clin Psychol Rev. 2009 Apr;29(3):193-207. Gold C, Solli HP, Krüger V, Lie SA. Unifob Health, Bergen, Norway. christian.gold@grieg.uib.no

Full Title: Cognitive-behavioural therapy for adolescents with bulimic symptomatology: The acceptability and effectiveness of internet-based delivery.

BACKGROUND: The evidence base for the treatment of adolescents with bulimia nervosa (BN) is limited. AIMS: To assess the feasibility, acceptability, and clinical outcomes of a web-based cognitive-behavioural (CBT) intervention for adolescents with bulimic symptomatology. METHOD: 101 participants were recruited from eating disorders clinics or from beat, a UK-wide eating disorders charity. The programme consisted of online CBT sessions ('Overcoming Bulimia Online'), peer support via message boards, and email support from a clinician. Participants' bulimic symptomatology and service utilisation were assessed by interview at baseline and at three and six months. Participants' views of the treatment package were also determined. RESULTS: There were significant improvements in eating disorder symptoms and service contacts from baseline to three months, which were maintained at six months. Participants' views of the intervention were positive. CONCLUSIONS: The intervention has the potential for use as a first step in the treatment of adolescents with bulimic symptomatology.

Behav Res Ther. 2009 May 27. Pretorius N, Arcelus J, Beecham J, Dawson H, Doherty F, Eisler I, Gallagher C, Gowers S, Isaacs G, Johnson-Sabine E, Jones A, Newell C, Morris J, Richards L, Ringwood S, Rowlands L, Simic M, Treasure J, Waller G, Williams C, Yi I, Yoshioka M, Schmidt U. Section of Eating Disorders, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College, Box 059, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AZ, United Kingdom.