Comparison of State and Trait Anxiety Response to Music Therapy and Aerobic Exercise in Non-Elite Collegiate Athletes

The present study aim is to determine and compare the effectiveness of relaxing music and aerobic exercises on state and trait anxiety in non-elite collegiate athletic population. Thirty one male and female collegiate athletes were recruited. The subjects were randomly allocated into Music therapy group and aerobic exercise group. Music therapy was given to subjects of music therapy group for 20 minutes in each session. Subjects of aerobic exercise group performed 20 minutes aerobic exercise on treadmill in each session. Protocol lasts for two weeks (one session per day) for both of the groups. STAI measurement was taken before and after completion of two weeks of intervention. Unpaired-t test was used to analyse the between group difference and paired-t test is used to check within group effect. The significant difference has been seen in anxiety level in both of the interventional groups but magnitude of anxiety reduction is more by performing aerobic exercise than having music therapy. So result of the study states that Music therapy and aerobic exercise both are helpful in reducing state and trait anxiety in non-elite collegiate athletes but aerobic exercise is more beneficial than music therapy.