Research on the affective phenomena involved in music has grown exponentially over the last 20 years. One particular topic is the use of music for affect self-regulation (i.e., the process of creating, changing, or maintaining affective states). Being a recent field of research, knowledge remains scattered and heterogeneous. An integrative literature review was conducted to present the results from recent research and critically analyse its overall conceptual state. A systematic search of online databases focusing on publications from January 1994 to June 2014 was completed. An extensive screening resulted in the selection of 34 publications, which were analysed with regard to their focus, conceptual clarity, and the results obtained concerning the following levels: goals (G), strategies (S), tactics (T), and mechanisms (M). The findings show that the GSTM levels have not been studied with equal weight and precision. Moreover, additional relevant dimensions of analysis have also emerged. A considerable degree of inconsistency in the use of terms and conceptual imprecision was found across the publications, and the lack of a model aggravated the situation. The main components of affect regulation through music were identified. A compilation of definitions of affective terms and recommendations for future research are presented.

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Although music is known to be a part of everyday life and a resource for mood and emotion management, everyday life has changed significantly for many due to the global coronavirus pandemic, making the role of music in everyday life less certain. An online survey in which participants responded to Likert scale questions as well as providing free text responses was used to explore how participants were engaging with music during the first wave of the pandemic, whether and how they were using music for mood regulation, and how their engagement with music related to their experiences of worry and anxiety resulting from the pandemic. Results indicated that, for the majority of participants, while many felt their use of music had changed since the beginning of the pandemic, the amount of their music listening behaviors were either unaffected by the pandemic or increased. This was especially true of listening to self-selected music and watching live streamed concerts. Analysis revealed correlations between participants’ use of mood for music regulation, their musical engagement, and their levels of anxiety and worry. A small number of participants described having negative emotional responses to music, the majority of whom also reported severe levels of anxiety.

Sense of agency refers to the ability to influence one's functioning and environment, relating to self-efficacy, and wellbeing. In youth, agency may be challenged by external demands or redefinition of self-image. Music, having heightened relevance for the young, has been argued to provide feelings of self-agency for them. Yet, there is little empirical research on how music impacts adolescents' daily sense of agency. The current study investigated whether music listening influences adolescents' perceived agency in everyday life and which contextual determinants would explain such an influence. Participants were 44 adolescents (48% female, 36% with training in music, mean age 14), recruited through local schools. The mobile Experience Sampling app MuPsych was used to collect brief self-reports of personal music listening experiences during daily life. This method assessed the change in the listener's perceived control over both their emotional states (internal agency), and their external environment (external agency), over 5 min of music listening. Also measured were changes in mood states, and contextual variables (social situation, concurrent activity, and reason for listening). The impact of music on the sense of agency was analyzed using multilevel structural equation modeling. There was no general increase of agency across all music episodes, but agency fluctuations were determined by specific contextual factors. External agency change was predicted negatively by changing environments, while internal agency change was predicted by initial mood and various reasons for listening, including for enjoyment, coping, and enhancing current mood state. Our findings confirmed the plasticity and situational embeddedness of the sense of agency. Music indeed can support agency, but the impact is dependent on a range of situational factors. Sense of agency can be seen as a health resource and significant part of youth development, and current findings provide new insight into when and by which conditions such affordance is likely to be employed.

Music is a common resource for the regulation of emotions, moods, and stress. This study aimed at determining the individual and relative impact on stress reduction of two of the main factors involved in musical affect regulation: regulation strategies and music itself. The current study took place in an experimental setting and followed a factorial withinsubjects design. First, the participants (n ¼ 34) filled in an online survey where they identified their self-perceived "adequate"/"inadequate" music examples for the purpose of reducing stress and self-perceived "adequate"/ "inadequate" strategies for the same purpose. In the lab they went through a stress induction procedure and then were instructed to calm down. They did so by listening to their "adequate"/"inadequate" music and employing the "adequate"/ "inadequate" strategy, depending on the experimental condition. The primary outcome measure was self-reported tension, complemented by self-reported energy and valence, skin conductance levels (SCL), startle blink amplitudes, and risk aversion. The results showed that both music and strategy had a strong significant effect on the self-reported tension. Additionally, music had strong significant effects on energy, valence, SCL, and risk aversion. Pairwise comparisons revealed that the condition "adequate strategy-adequate music" was consistently more beneficial for stress reduction than condition "inadequate strategy-inadequate music". However, it did not outperform all the other conditions, nor did the "inadequate strategy-inadequate music" underperform all the others. Moreover, close inspection of the results showed a larger impact of music on the short-term outcomes of self-regulation in comparison to strategy. These findings suggest that successful affective regulation depends on the adequacy of the chosen strategies and music, but that music is more determinant for the affective outcomes in the short term. The results are discussed considering previous research and the implications for the understanding of musical affect regulation are explored.

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Adolescents actively use music for affect regulation. In this chapter, affect is considered as a broad umbrella term containing moods, emotions, motivational impulses, and energy levels. Theoretical and empirical research has recently been unveiling the components involved in affect self-regulation, such as the psychological functions of music listening, affective goals, regulation strategies, and musical mechanisms. The study of these components and of their interactions has resulted in a better understanding of the dynamics between music engagement, wellbeing, and psychological development among adolescents. The purpose of this chapter is to present a conceptual model of musical affect self-regulation. The core components of the model are regulatory strategies and musical mechanisms, which interact across the dimensions of cognition, feelings, and bodily reactions.

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