Personalized Music Listening and Autobiographical Narration in Nursing Home Residents: Linguistic and Qualitative Findings from a Pilot Study

Autobiographical memory plays a central role in identity continuity, narrative functioning, and psychological well-being in later life. In nursing home residents, however, reduced environmental stimulation, cognitive vulnerability, and limited opportunities for self-expression may compromise autobiographical engagement. Music, as an emotionally salient and personally meaningful cue, may facilitate memory retrieval through affective and self-referential mechanisms. This exploratory pilot study examined whether personalized music listening influences the productivity and linguistic features of autobiographical narration in nursing home residents. Eleven older adults completed one baseline autobiographical recall session without music and three weekly music-assisted sessions focused on different life periods. Narratives were transcribed and analyzed using LIWC-22. Within-subject differences were tested with Wilcoxon signed-rank analyses. In addition, an exploratory qualitative paper-and-pencil analysis was conducted to identify recurrent narrative and experiential patterns in the music-assisted accounts. Music-assisted recall was associated with higher total word count compared with baseline, although this difference should be interpreted cautiously given the asymmetry between the single-session baseline and the three-session post-intervention format. No significant changes emerged in positive or negative emotion words. Qualitative observations of the music-assisted narratives highlighted recurrent features including vivid autobiographical scenes, references to meaningful social identities and former life roles, and emotionally salient communication. These preliminary findings suggest that personalized music may support autobiographical recall by increasing verbal output during narration and by facilitating meaningful self-expression and relational communication in later life. Larger controlled studies are needed to clarify its role in supporting autobiographical narrative processes in nursing home older adults.