Kaja Korošec
Kaja Korošecs doctoral thesis in collaboration with Karolinska Institutet aims to develop a music-based intervention led by a musician which could help raise quality of life, subjective well-being and self-compassion as well as lower social interaction anxiety in adults with autism.
Project title: A music-based intervention for adults on the autism spectrum: Effects and underlying mechanisms
Third-cycle subject area: Medical science
Principal supervisor: Prof. Eva Bojner Horwitz, KMH
Assistant supervisor: Anna Backman Bister, KMH
Admitted to: Karolinska Institutet
Project period: 2020–2024
Purpose of the dissertation work
Autistic people's subjective experiences of music have so far been largely disregarded, even though the intersection between music and autism has been studied for the past 80 years. While music is used in different interventions for autistic people, we know very little about how they use it in their day-to-day lives, how it might support their well-being, or how it might be harmful.
The purpose of this project is to bring forward the perspectives and experiences of autistic adults and investigate what it means to them to be able to engage in music(king) and how music(king) might be related to their well-being.
Research questions
- How do autistic adults engage in music(king) in their day-to-day lives?
- What does being able to engage in music(king) mean to them?
- In which contexts can music be a source of stress for them?
- How is music(king) related to the basic psychological needs of autonomy, relatedness, and competence in autistic adults?
- How is music(king) related to their well-being?
Method
The first half of the project takes a qualitative approach, using interviews to explore autistic adults’ views and experiences of music(king). The results from the interviews provide a framework for the second, quantitative part of the project. For this part, we use survey data to investigate how music(king) might be connected to well-being via basic psychological needs (autonomy, relatedness, and competence) and emotion regulation.
Intented outcome
The aim of this doctoral thesis is to
- provide a broad overview of the different meanings and values music has for autistic adults and
- develop an empirical model of how music(king) might affect their well-being.
This knowledge will not only help us provide better support services and guide policy-making related to accessibility, but it will also bring forward the overlooked subjective perspectives that highlight the importance of music in the lives of autistic adults.
About the PhD student
After graduating from Violin Performance at the Conservatory for Music and Ballet Maribor, Kaja Korošec pursued her studies in the field of psychology at the University of Maribor and the University of Ljubljana, earning a master's degree in psychology. Her research work so far has focused on anxiety, flow, and motivation in musicians and on the uses of music in therapeutic and educational settings for children with different disabilities.