The Effect of Music Therapy on Salivary Cortisol as a Reliable Marker of Pre Competition Stress in Shooting Performance

Studies have been performed on the psychophysiological responses of Music Therapy (MT) in normal and diseased, but little has been done on pre-competition stress (PCS) and Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal (HPA) axis response on sports population. The purpose of the current study was to estimate the contribution of MT on Salivary Cortisol (SC) in reducing PCS, and its effect on shooting performance (PS). One hundred male shooters between the age range of 29.5±4.3years were examined as experimental (N=50, MT along with the routine sports specific training) and control (N=50, only with the routine sports specific training). Duration of the study was 5 weeks, 4 weeks of interventional and 1 week study to determine the follow-up effect. Pre, post and follow-up data of quantitative phenotypic markers of HPA-Axis by SC and PS were analyzed. Compared to the control, experimental group has shown significant result, post-intervention (p<0.001) and in follow-up (p<0.001) in SC and in PS. Experimental group demonstrated in reduction of PCS level and increase in PS, whereas the control group showed non-significant result. Results indicated that relaxation therapies such as MT may decrease PCS and therefore enhance PS. It is concluded that four weeks of MT has an effect on HPA-Axis by decreasing the level of SC as a reliable physiological marker of PCS.