Music therapy is efficacious for the treatment of depression. Compared to other psychotherapeutic forms, it allows for the emergence of various modes of mutual interaction, thus enabling multiple channels for emotional expression and fostering therapeutic alliance. Although musical interaction patterns between client and therapist have been regarded as predictors of therapeutic outcome in depression, this has not yet been systematically investigated. We aim to address this gap by analyzing the possible linkage between musical interaction features and changes in depression score. In a clinical trial, digital piano improvisations from 58 Finnish clients and their therapists were recorded over 12 sessions of music therapy lasting 6 weeks. Subsequently, a variety of symbolic features describing pitch, rhythm, duration, and velocity were extracted from the improvisations. We observed a number of relationships between client–therapist interaction and clinical improvement. Clients with largest improvements displayed higher overall interaction, particularly more musical interaction in the middle of the therapy process than in the beginning and end. In contrast, clients with lower depression change score exhibited overall lower interaction and yielded other temporal profiles of interaction. The association between clinical improvement and an inverted U-shaped curve of musical interaction is discussed in the light of process-outcome literature.

音乐疗法对治疗抑郁症有效。与其他心理治疗形式相比，它允许出现各种相互互动的模式，从而为情感表达提供多种渠道，促进治疗联盟。尽管来访者和治疗师之间的音乐互动模式被认为是抑郁症治疗结果的预测因素，但这还没有得到系统的研究。我们旨在通过分析音乐交互特征与抑郁分数变化之间的可能联系来解决这一差距。在一项临床试验中，来自 58 名芬兰客户及其治疗师的数码钢琴即兴演奏被记录在 12 次持续 6 周的音乐治疗中。随后，各种描述音高、节奏、持续时间、和速度是从即兴创作中提取的。我们观察到来访者-治疗师互动与临床改善之间的许多关系。改善最大的客户表现出更高的整体互动，特别是在治疗过程的中间比在开始和结束时更多的音乐互动。相比之下，抑郁变化评分较低的客户表现出整体较低的互动，并产生了其他互动的时间分布。根据过程-结果文献讨论了临床改善与音乐交互的倒 U 形曲线之间的关联。特别是在治疗过程的中间比在开始和结束时更多的音乐互动。相比之下，抑郁变化评分较低的客户表现出整体较低的互动，并产生了其他互动的时间分布。根据过程-结果文献讨论了临床改善与音乐交互的倒 U 形曲线之间的关联。特别是在治疗过程的中间比在开始和结束时更多的音乐互动。相比之下，抑郁变化评分较低的客户表现出整体较低的互动，并产生了其他互动的时间分布。根据过程-结果文献讨论了临床改善与音乐交互的倒 U 形曲线之间的关联。