Ecological Momentary Music Intervention for the Reduction of Stress

Ethnic discrimination is a prevalent problem in the European Union and other regions. In view of the significant negative impacts of discrimination on mental and physical health, it is of high relevance to counteract these negative effects and provide appropriate interventions. This study aims to investigate the feasibility and the effectiveness of a mobile-based intervention, delivering self-selected relaxing music to buffer biological (salivary cortisol, salivary alpha-amylase) and psychological (perceived stress, perceived ethnic discrimination) stress reactions in moments of acute stress and perceived ethnic discrimination in the everyday life of Turkish immigrant women (N=20, age range 18-65 years). An intra-individually randomized design will be used, i.e., participants will be instructed on a random basis to either listen to music (intervention event) or not (control event). The whole study period consists of 35 days with a baseline period (week 1), intervention period (week 2-4), and post period (week 5). To investigate the feasibility of the intervention, post-monitoring interviews will be conducted after the end of the whole study period.