Perception of complexity, interest level, and preference for harmonic progression of music for adults with schizophrenia

• Adults with schizophrenia are less discriminative for harmonic changes in music, therefore, the perceptual and cognitive processing of understanding and responding to music may not be the same as that of healthy adults.
• SP group showed less sensitivity to the increased level of harmonic complexity within the music, suggesting that their evaluation of music complexity was not coherent.
• No significant differences were found between groups in terms of their interest in and preference for harmonic progression in music.
• The use of harmonic progression for adults with schizophrenia can be effectively considered in music selection.
• Music therapists should incorporate an appropriate level of harmonic complexity in the music when used in mental health settings.

This study compared how adults with a diagnosis of schizophrenia and those without schizophrenia perceived the harmonic progression of music. Thirty adults diagnosed with schizophrenia (SP) and 37 healthy adults without schizophrenia (NSP) listened to musical excerpts with five different harmonic progressions. After listening to each excerpt, the participants reported their perception of the complexity of the musical excerpt, their personal interest in the excerpt, and their personal preference for the musical excerpt on an 11-point scale. The results showed that the SP group tended to be less sensitive to increased harmonic complexity, and this difference reached statistical significance (p = 0.040). No significant differences were found between the groups in terms of their interest in or preference for harmonic progression in music. However, among harmonic progression, interest level (p = 0.014), and personal preference (p = 0.000), there were significant interaction effects. Overall, and in line with previous studies the findings indicate that adults with SP are less sensitive to harmonic progressions and harmonic changes in music. Findings from this study provide essential information for music selection when working with clients with schizophrenia in mental health settings.