Nikki S Rickard
Biographic Data
| ID | 192629 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Nikki S Rickard |
| GIVEN NAMES | Nikki S |
| FAMILY NAME | Rickard |
| SIGNATURE | RICKARD N S |
| AFFILIATIONS | The University of Melbourne |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-4236-8538 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 8 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 14 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2012 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
The unifying power of live music events
Live music events (including concerts, shows, and festivals) have been central to community gatherings for many years, but the extent to which audience members experience social benefits during these events is not yet clear. In this systematic review, we review research on shared live music experiences to understand the scope of these initiatives, the quality of the research, and their social impact across different genres and types of live music…
Validating Spotify’s ‘Valence’, ‘Energy’, and ‘Danceability’ Audio Features for Music Psychology Research
Music psychology researchers have long been interested in how emotions are expressed in music. Increasingly, researchers employ computationally derived measures of emotion (e.g., valence and arousal) from services such as Spotify. These measures are easy to use, but how they are calculated is not transparent. It is not clear whether these computational measures reflect how people rate perceived emotions in music. Addressing this, our study invest…
Effects of a positive education programme on secondary school students’ mental health and wellbeing; challenges of the school context
Previous research has demonstrated wellbeing benefits for positive education programmes (PEPs) facilitated by clinicians or experts or outside the school context. The current study explored the effects of a Year 10 PEP led by teachers trained in positive education and embedded within the Australian secondary school context. A mixed-methods design compared students receiving PEP (n = 119) with a wellbeing-as-usual comparison group (n = 34) matched…
Youth experiences of co-designing a well-being intervention
Co-design and youth participatory action research are promising methodologies for increasing youth engagement in well-being interventions. The current study included 10 recent high school graduates employed as youth advisors to co-design a youth-friendly positive psychology intervention targeting the post-school transition. The youth advisors received foundational training in positive psychology, psychological needs theory and emerging adulthood.…
The benefits of participation in a choir and an exercise group on older adults’ wellbeing in a naturalistic setting
As populations age, it is critical to understand how psycho-social wellbeing supports successful ageing. The health sector is increasingly asking how best to improve social connection and affective state because of their positive influence on overall health. Choral participation has been proposed as a particularly effective way to improve socio-emotional wellbeing, due to benefits of music exposure, social opportunities, and the act of singing. I…
Engagement with a cognitive behavioural therapy mobile phone app predicts changes in mental health and wellbeing
ObjectiveThere is an abundance of evidence supporting the efficacy of computerised cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), but few studies have evaluated mobile applications (apps) that provide CBT strategies. This study investigating the relationships between mental health outcomes and engagement with a mobile app that recommended short CBT strategies.MethodParticipants downloaded the MoodMission app from the iOS and Android app stores, completed i…
Social Networking Sites, Depression, and Anxiety
Mental Health Smartphone Apps
BACKGROUND: The number of mental health apps (MHapps) developed and now available to smartphone users has increased in recent years. MHapps and other technology-based solutions have the potential to play an important part in the future of mental health care; however, there is no single guide for the development of evidence-based MHapps. Many currently available MHapps lack features that would greatly improve their functionality, or include featur…
Emotion response and regulation to “happy” and “sad” music stimuli
Music has been demonstrated to induce strong emotional responses in listeners, but listeners’ capacity to regulate this response has not yet been experimentally examined. In this study, 32 participants ( M age = 20.22 years, SD = 2.45; 72% female) listened to short music excerpts (four “happy” and four “sad” pieces) with instructions to “feel” or to “regulate” (specifically, “reduce” sadness or “strengthen” happiness) the emotional response to th…
A theoretical framework and therapeutic songwriting protocol to promote integration of self-concept in people with acquired neurological injuries
A positive self-concept after neurological injury is associated with enhanced quality of life and good mental health. Therefore, effective reconstruction of identity is heralded as an important goal of rehabilitation. We have developed and tested a songwriting protocol for people with acquired brain injury and/or spinal cord injury (SCI) that focuses on six domains of self-concept (physical, personal, social, family, academic/work, and moral). Ov…
Mechanisms of change in self-concept and well-being following songwriting interventions for people in the early phase of neurorehabilitation
Emotional outcomes of regulation strategies used during personal music listening
Music is frequently used to support emotional health and well-being, with emotion regulation the most commonly reported mechanism. Music-based emotion regulation has not yet been extensively investigated within the broader emotion regulation framework. The effects of music-based emotion regulation on emotional state and well-being outcomes have also rarely been tested in real time. The current study aimed to determine the consequences of emotion …
Changes in Well-Being
Music-enhanced recall
Research on whether music facilitates recall has been inconsistent and has lacked a theoretical basis. Three competing emotion-based theories yield differential predictions dependent on arousal levels, mood congruence, and functional relevance of information respectively. The aim of this study was to determine the most informative framework to understand the effect of emotion-inducing music on the short-term recall of information about narratives…
A theoretical framework and therapeutic songwriting protocol to promote integration of self-concept in people with acquired neurological injuries
A positive self-concept after neurological injury is associated with enhanced quality of life and good mental health. Therefore, effective reconstruction of identity is heralded as an important goal of rehabilitation. We have developed and tested a songwriting protocol for people with acquired brain injury and/or spinal cord injury (SCI) that focuses on six domains of self-concept (physical, personal, social, family, academic/work, and moral). Ov…
Engagement with a cognitive behavioural therapy mobile phone app predicts changes in mental health and wellbeing
ObjectiveThere is an abundance of evidence supporting the efficacy of computerised cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), but few studies have evaluated mobile applications (apps) that provide CBT strategies. This study investigating the relationships between mental health outcomes and engagement with a mobile app that recommended short CBT strategies.MethodParticipants downloaded the MoodMission app from the iOS and Android app stores, completed i…
Changes in Well-Being
Music-enhanced recall
Research on whether music facilitates recall has been inconsistent and has lacked a theoretical basis. Three competing emotion-based theories yield differential predictions dependent on arousal levels, mood congruence, and functional relevance of information respectively. The aim of this study was to determine the most informative framework to understand the effect of emotion-inducing music on the short-term recall of information about narratives…
Emotional outcomes of regulation strategies used during personal music listening
Music is frequently used to support emotional health and well-being, with emotion regulation the most commonly reported mechanism. Music-based emotion regulation has not yet been extensively investigated within the broader emotion regulation framework. The effects of music-based emotion regulation on emotional state and well-being outcomes have also rarely been tested in real time. The current study aimed to determine the consequences of emotion …
Changes in Well-Being
Social Networking Sites, Depression, and Anxiety
Mental Health Smartphone Apps
BACKGROUND: The number of mental health apps (MHapps) developed and now available to smartphone users has increased in recent years. MHapps and other technology-based solutions have the potential to play an important part in the future of mental health care; however, there is no single guide for the development of evidence-based MHapps. Many currently available MHapps lack features that would greatly improve their functionality, or include featur…
Emotion response and regulation to “happy” and “sad” music stimuli
Music has been demonstrated to induce strong emotional responses in listeners, but listeners’ capacity to regulate this response has not yet been experimentally examined. In this study, 32 participants ( M age = 20.22 years, SD = 2.45; 72% female) listened to short music excerpts (four “happy” and four “sad” pieces) with instructions to “feel” or to “regulate” (specifically, “reduce” sadness or “strengthen” happiness) the emotional response to th…
A theoretical framework and therapeutic songwriting protocol to promote integration of self-concept in people with acquired neurological injuries
A positive self-concept after neurological injury is associated with enhanced quality of life and good mental health. Therefore, effective reconstruction of identity is heralded as an important goal of rehabilitation. We have developed and tested a songwriting protocol for people with acquired brain injury and/or spinal cord injury (SCI) that focuses on six domains of self-concept (physical, personal, social, family, academic/work, and moral). Ov…
Mechanisms of change in self-concept and well-being following songwriting interventions for people in the early phase of neurorehabilitation
Engagement with a cognitive behavioural therapy mobile phone app predicts changes in mental health and wellbeing
ObjectiveThere is an abundance of evidence supporting the efficacy of computerised cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), but few studies have evaluated mobile applications (apps) that provide CBT strategies. This study investigating the relationships between mental health outcomes and engagement with a mobile app that recommended short CBT strategies.MethodParticipants downloaded the MoodMission app from the iOS and Android app stores, completed i…
The benefits of participation in a choir and an exercise group on older adults’ wellbeing in a naturalistic setting
As populations age, it is critical to understand how psycho-social wellbeing supports successful ageing. The health sector is increasingly asking how best to improve social connection and affective state because of their positive influence on overall health. Choral participation has been proposed as a particularly effective way to improve socio-emotional wellbeing, due to benefits of music exposure, social opportunities, and the act of singing. I…
Youth experiences of co-designing a well-being intervention
Co-design and youth participatory action research are promising methodologies for increasing youth engagement in well-being interventions. The current study included 10 recent high school graduates employed as youth advisors to co-design a youth-friendly positive psychology intervention targeting the post-school transition. The youth advisors received foundational training in positive psychology, psychological needs theory and emerging adulthood.…
Effects of a positive education programme on secondary school students’ mental health and wellbeing; challenges of the school context
Previous research has demonstrated wellbeing benefits for positive education programmes (PEPs) facilitated by clinicians or experts or outside the school context. The current study explored the effects of a Year 10 PEP led by teachers trained in positive education and embedded within the Australian secondary school context. A mixed-methods design compared students receiving PEP (n = 119) with a wellbeing-as-usual comparison group (n = 34) matched…
The unifying power of live music events
Live music events (including concerts, shows, and festivals) have been central to community gatherings for many years, but the extent to which audience members experience social benefits during these events is not yet clear. In this systematic review, we review research on shared live music experiences to understand the scope of these initiatives, the quality of the research, and their social impact across different genres and types of live music…
Validating Spotify’s ‘Valence’, ‘Energy’, and ‘Danceability’ Audio Features for Music Psychology Research
Music psychology researchers have long been interested in how emotions are expressed in music. Increasingly, researchers employ computationally derived measures of emotion (e.g., valence and arousal) from services such as Spotify. These measures are easy to use, but how they are calculated is not transparent. It is not clear whether these computational measures reflect how people rate perceived emotions in music. Addressing this, our study invest…
Psychology (12 works) · Social Psychology (8 works) · Medicine (7 works) · Neuroscience and Music Perception (7 works) · Psychiatry (6 works) · Developmental psychology (5 works) · Mental health (5 works) · Psychological intervention (5 works) · Psychotherapist (5 works) · Clinical Psychology (4 works)