The effect of receptive progressive muscle relaxation techniques on stress and agitation in military veterans

Quite a bit of research exists about receptive progressive muscle relaxation techniques, music therapy with military veterans, and the effect of music therapy on stress. However, there is very little research that combines these three areas. This study explored the effect music-assisted relaxation has on stress and agitation in military veterans and what specific areas of stress and agitation are most affected by progressive muscle relaxation techniques in an aim to assist future studies on this topic. Participants (n=5) were recruited from students and their families and friends at Texas Woman’s University. All participants were veterans between the ages of 18-65. This study measured participants’ self-perceived stress and agitation using a pretest/posttest pre-experimental design with two Likert Scales. Participants participated in a 20-minute receptive relaxation exercise with prerecorded music as the researcher verbally led them through a progressive muscle relaxation script. The mean changes in the stress and agitation pretest/posttest scores were -5 and -3, respectively. Implications and recommendations for future research are discussed.