UNE researcher develops music engagement scale for aging wellness

A researcher at the University of New England has developed a new scale, the UNE Music in Aging Wellness Scale (MAWS), to measure music engagement in older adults and its impact on overall wellness.  

The study, conducted by Tom Meuser, Ph.D., founding director of UNE’s Center for Excellence in Aging and Health, created a brief and accessible scale to assess music engagement and its potential benefits in advancing age. 

Engagement with music has been widely acknowledged to have positive effects on cognitive function, mood enhancement, and social interactions in older adults; however, existing measurement scales often lack brevity and aren't tailored specifically to the needs of older individuals.  

Meuser’s research addressed this gap by developing a concise, 7-item scale that captures different aspects of music engagement, such as listening, moving to the beat, and participation in musical activities.  

In the study, 349 older adults completed the MAWS scale, along with additional experimental items related to ageism over a two-year period. The results confirmed that the MAWS items formed a coherent measure of music engagement. The scale's total score correlated significantly with various indicators of wellness commonly associated with aging. Higher MAWS scores were associated with higher mastery in daily life, lower depression, and higher social wellbeing.  

One of the unique features of the MAWS is its brevity, said Meuser, which makes it particularly suitable for research and clinical settings where efficiency in measurement is essential.  

“There are some terrific measures in the literature, but most are very in-depth and not always relevant to older persons. My aim was to create a scale that measures the ‘gist’ of music engagement that’s also fast and easy to complete,” Meuser said. 

While longer scales provide comprehensive coverage of music engagement, the MAWS captures core elements that are relevant to older adults' wellness. The MAWS can also serve as a baseline and outcome measure for interventions involving music engagement, Meuser said.  

“MAWS will help researchers understand how prior music interests impact responses to interventions and could contribute to more targeted music-based wellness programs,” he said, noting that the scale could be a key tool for future wellness and public health research.  

The scale aligns with the emerging trend of using "Big Music Data" to track music engagement patterns and their effects on wellbeing. 

“Music is a broad-based wellness activity for older adults. With today’s digital technologies, it’s possible to link individual enjoyment with population-level data,” Meuser said.  “This is exciting, as we can finally track the wellness impacts of music for specific persons, diseases – you name it.”