Music and music listening

In adolescence music is an important medium. Music helps develop a more definite identity and functions as a “badge” for showing who you are to others. Music is furthermore crucial for arousal management; music gets adolescents in the right mood for the occasion. Music helps cope with problems and may provide solace when unhappy, isolated, or depressed. Particularly for adolescents belonging to ethnic, socio-economic or sexual minority groups, music can help to boost personal and group self-esteem. Music has been linked to problem behavior, and the mechanisms through which music is connected to adolescent risk behavior are discussed. In sum, music is not only the aural backdrop of the intense, adventurous and sometimes difficult period of coming of age; in adolescence, music with its many functions is also “equipment for life.”