The emotional experience of music is linked both to the characteristics of the musical stimulus and the traits of the listener. Among the latter, the presence of mental disorders such as depression plays a significant role. This study explores the relationship between the emotional responses to instrumental film music and the general and specific symptoms of depression. Given the high comorbidity between depressive and anxiety symptoms, we also examined how anxiety symptoms relate to the emotional experience of music. The study included 98 participants aged between 18 and 65 who reported experiencing depressive symptoms at the time of completing the assessment. Participants completed two questionnaires on depression symptoms and listened to 20 short musical excerpts, rating each excerpt in terms of emotional valence and arousal. The results indicated that higher levels of general distress symptoms are associated with a more negative emotional experience of musical excerpts on average. Elevated levels of specific depressive and anxiety symptoms were also related to more negative valence ratings, particularly for low-arousal excerpts, and to higher emotional arousal, especially in response to high-arousal excerpts with negative valence. Compared to emotional arousal, valence was more frequently associated with statistically significant relationships with depressive symptoms. The findings point to a negative emotional bias characteristic of individuals experiencing depressive symptomatology. This study extends previous research by incorporating both dimensions of emotional experience (valence and arousal), by analyzing associations between musical emotional responses and individual symptoms of depression and anxiety, and by considering variations in emotional experience across different groups of musical excerpts.
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