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Christian

Christian Gold

Research Professor

chgo@norceresearch.no
+47 56 10 72 32
+47 975 01 757
Nina Griegs gt. 4, 5015 Bergen, Norway

My scientific work is about connecting randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and social/cognitive/affective neuroscience to understand how cultural activities such as music can be used to promote health. My current research can be described as translational, in several ways: translating between basic and applied research; between clinical and statistical thinking; between languages and cultures.

I spent the first decade of my career with music and music therapy; the second with clinical trials and biostatistics; and the third with neuroscience. I moved from Germany to Vienna to study music; then went to Scandinavia to conduct clinical research with direct societal relevance; and then connected back to Central Europe to integrate aspects of basic research. My PhD, a large non-randomised study, taught me the importance of large samples and of randomisation. Over the years, I have conducted or contributed to RCTs across many countries (Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, China, Columbia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Israel, Italy, Korea, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Turkey, UK, USA). Randomisation is the best way to separate cause and effect, but while large, simple RCTs can provide definite answers to simple questions, we also need to find ways to address the fact that complex interventions are always changing. Therefore, I am very interested in RCT designs that go beyond the traditional simple trial design – biomarkers, adaptive designs, flexible manuals – while also recognising that each adaptation adds complexity.

Current roles:

  • Research Professor, NORCE Norwegian Research Centre AS, Bergen, Norway
  • Professor II, Grieg Academy Department of Music, University of Bergen, Norway
  • Professorial Research Fellow and Project Staff, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Austria
  • Vice head of GAMUT (twin centre of NORCE and University of Bergen)

Additional contact information:

Bergen office, postal address: NORCE Norwegian Research Centre AS, Postboks 22 Nygårdstangen, 5838 Bergen, Norway
Vienna office: Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Vienna, Liebiggasse 5, 1010 Vienna, Austria. Phone: +43-699-11240657

Current projects:

  • M4A: Music for Autism: Binational trial of music versus play to improve communication, participation, mental health and brain connectivity in children on the autistic spectrum (NCT04936048)
  • ALMUTH: ALzheimer and MUsic THerapy: Effects of Music Lessons on Brain Plasticity, Mood, and Quality of Life in Alzheimer Patients (NCT03444181)
  • LongSTEP: Longitudinal study of music therapy's effectiveness for premature infants and their caregivers (NCT03564184)
  • MIDDEL: Music interventions for dementia and depression in elderly care home residents (NCT03496675)

Completed projects:

  • No Pain No Gain: Internal Mechanisms of Integrative, Improvisational Music Therapy in the Treatment of Depression (ISRCTN11618310)
  • Shared Moments: The quality of the relationship as outcome predictor in music therapy with children with autism spectrum disorder (based on ISRCTN11618310)
  • TIME-A: Trial of Improvisational Music therapy's Effectiveness for Autism (ISRCTN11618310)
  • HUMS Trial: RCT and scale development study of music therapy for adolescents in schools (with the University of Melbourne, funded by the Australian Research Council; ISRCTN31608830)
  • RCT-MTPSY: Multicentre RCT on music therapy for psychiatric patients with low therapy motivation (NCT00137189)
  • MT-PRIS: RCT on music therapy for prison inmates (ISRCTN22518605)
  • MT-DEPR: RCT on music therapy for depression (with the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, as part of the EU FP6 project BrainTuning; ISRCTN84185937)
  • Systematic reviews and meta-analyses of music therapy in mental health

Links to various resources:

Last updated: 1 March 2023


Christian Gold

Division

Health & Social Sciences

Research themes

Music Therapy

Research Groups

GAMUT – Music Therapy

More information about Christian

See profile in Cristin

Open CV

Projects

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Publications
Music for autism: a protocol for an international randomized crossover trial on music therapy for children with autism – Frontiers in Psychiatry 2023
Effect of Music Therapy on Parent-Infant Bonding Among Infants Born Preterm: A Randomized Clinical Trial – JAMA Network Open 2023
Process-outcome relations in music therapy versus music listening for people with schizophrenia viewed through a mediational model: the role of the therapeutic alliance – Frontiers in Psychiatry 2023
A 12-month randomised pilot trial of the Alzheimer’s and music therapy study: a feasibility assessment of music therapy and physical activity in patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease – BMC Pilot and Feasibility Studies 2023
Treatment fidelity in a pragmatic clinical trial of music therapy for premature infants and their parents: the LongSTEP study – Trials 2023
Music-oriented parent counseling to promote improvement in level of parental stress, quality of life and the use of music in everyday life among parents of children with autism: A mixed-methods randomized controlled study – Nordic journal of music therapy 2022
Putting music to trial: Consensus on key methodological challenges investigating music-based rehabilitation – Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 2022
Musical interaction in music therapy for depression treatment – Psychology of Music 2022
Demographic and clinical profile of residents living with dementia and depressive symptoms in Australian private residential aged care: Data from the Music Interventions for Dementia and Depression in ELderly care (MIDDEL) cluster-randomised controlled trial – Australasian Journal on Ageing 2022
Music therapy for people with substance use disorders – Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2022
Study protocol for the Alzheimer and music therapy study: An RCT to compare the efficacy of music therapy and physical activity on brain plasticity, depressive symptoms, and cognitive decline, in a population with and at risk for Alzheimer's disease – PLOS ONE 2022
The Impact of Music on Stress Biomarkers: Protocol of a Substudy of the Cluster‐Randomized Controlled Trial Music Interventions for Dementia and Depression in ELderly Care (MIDDEL) – Brain Sciences 2022
Music therapy for autistic people – Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2022
Clinical effectiveness of music interventions for dementia and depression in elderly care (MIDDEL): Australian cohort of an international pragmatic cluster-randomised controlled trial – The Lancet Healthy Longevity 2022
Short-term Music Therapy for Families With Preterm Infants: A Randomized Trial – Pediatrics 2022
Music Therapy vs. Music Listening for Negative Symptoms in Schizophrenia: Randomized, Controlled, Assessor- and Patient-Blinded Trial – Frontiers in Psychiatry 2021
Effects of live music therapy on autonomic stability in preterm infants: A cluster-randomized controlled trial – Children 2021
The LongSTEP approach: Theoretical framework and intervention protocol for using parent-driven infant-directed singing as resource-oriented music therapy – Nordic journal of music therapy 2021
Estimating Components and Costs of Standard Care for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Europe from a Large International Sample – Brain Sciences 2021
Music Therapy for Depression Enhanced With Listening Homework and Slow Paced Breathing: A Randomised Controlled Trial – Frontiers in Psychology 2021
Longitudinal Study of music Therapy's Effectiveness for Premature infants and their caregivers (LongSTEP): Feasibility study with a Norwegian cohort – The Journal of music therapy 2021
Utvikling av musikkterapeutiske intervensjoner for mennesker med Alzheimers sykdom i tidlig fase, mild kognitiv svikt og subjektiv kognitiv svikt – Musikkterapi 2020
Music Therapy for Preterm Infants and Their Parents: A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial Protocol – The Journal of music therapy 2020
Resource assessment in trials undertaken in residential care homes: Experiences from the Australian MIDDEL cluster randomised controlled trial research team – Contemporary Clinical Trials Communications 2020
Long-Term Effects of Short-Term Music Therapy for Prison Inmates: Six-Year Follow-Up of a Randomized Controlled Trial – International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology 2020
Developing consensus description of group music therapy characteristics for persons with dementia – Nordic journal of music therapy 2020
Attunement in Music Therapy for Young Children with Autism: Revisiting Qualities of Relationship as Mechanisms of Change – Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 2020
Musikkterapi – 2019
Longitudinal study of music therapy's effectiveness for premature infants and their caregivers (LongSTEP): Protocol for an international randomised trial – BMJ Open 2019
Dialectical behaviour therapy and 12-step programmes for substance use disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis – Counselling and Psychotherapy Research 2019
Enhancing the efficacy of integrative improvisational music therapy in the treatment of depression: Study protocol for a randomised controlled trial – Trials 2019
Music Interventions for Dementia and Depression in ELderly care (MIDDEL): Protocol and statistical analysis plan for a multinational cluster-randomised trial – BMJ Open 2019
Treatment fidelity in a music therapy multi-site cluster randomized controlled trial for people living with dementia: The MIDDEL project intervention fidelity protocol – The Journal of music therapy 2019
Reliability of the Music in Everyday Life (MEL) Scale: A parent-report assessment for children on the autism spectrum – The Journal of music therapy 2018
Perspectives on research and clinical practice in music therapy for older people with depression – 2018
Music therapy – 2017
Group music therapy as a preventive intervention for young people at risk: cluster-randomized trial – The Journal of music therapy 2017
Music therapy for depression – Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2017
The effect of music therapy on cognitive functions in patients with dementia: a systematic review and meta-analysis – Aging & Mental Health 2017
International multicentre randomised controlled trial of improvisational music therapy for children with autism spectrum disorder: TIME-A study – Health Technology Assessment 2017
Tracing the temporal stability of autism spectrum diagnosis and severity as measured by the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule: A systematic review and meta-analysis – PLOS ONE 2017
The therapeutic relationship as predictor of change in music therapy with young children with autism spectrum disorder – Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 2017
Effects of improvisational music therapy vs enhanced standard care on symptom severity among children with autism spectrum disorder: The TIME-A randomized clinical trial – Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) 2017
Music therapy for people with schizophrenia and schizophrenia-like disorders – Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2017
Music therapy for people with substance use disorders – Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2017
Effectiveness of group music therapy versus recreational group singing for depressive symptoms of elderly nursing home residents: pragmatic trial – Aging & Mental Health 2017
Music therapy in management of psychiatric disorders – 2016
Music therapy for autism spectrum disorders – 2016
See all publications in Cristin