Men who loved gothic music during their teens and early adulthood are more likely to have mental health problems in their 30s, a study suggests. But don’t panic: just because your teenager listens to “goth” doesn’t mean they will systematically develop a mental health problem.
This is what the doctoral student in psychology at the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM), Catherine McConnell, concluded in a study published in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence.
Mme McConnell and his colleagues followed a group of 390 young people from 2005 to 2011, when they were 15 to 22 years old.
“We followed them during each of these years, we measured their musical preferences, specifically Gothic, in our study. Then also measures of mental health, psychological well-being,” explains Mme McConnell. They gauged participants’ level of appreciation for gothic music by asking them whether they liked singer Marilyn Manson and the band Nine Inch Nails.
Then, they reassessed the mental health of the group members when they turned 30. “It was really to see if this preference, for this type of music specifically, was going to have longer-term repercussions,” underlines the researcher.
“What our study suggests is that in adolescence, in early adulthood, when we like gothic music, these young people are specifically going to have more problems [de santé mentale] at 30 years”, specifically among men, summarizes Mme McConnell.
Risk factor
However, the study does not conclude a causal link between being a fan of gothic music and the development of mental health problems. The attraction to gothic music is rather a risk factor, specifies Mme McConnell.
Men who enjoyed gothic music during adolescence and early adulthood were more likely to have problems with depression, anxiety, isolation, and self-esteem, in addition to having a lower level of satisfaction with their lives.
Why are boys, not girls, whose mental health is affected by goth music? Mme McConnell made two assumptions. The first corresponds to the fact that men would be more inclined to emphasize more gloomy subjects and to internalize them.
“They would be more likely to get involved in what we call spirals of reinforcement, where they would overinvest in the psychological difficulties that they already have in adolescence,” said M.me McConnell, emphasizing that gothic music highlights darker themes, such as death or decay.
Social norms associated with the masculine gender could also explain the fact that gothic music affects boys’ mental health more. Society expects men not to show their emotions and to be emotionally stable, while gothic music is more inclined towards emotional intensity, which is a contradiction, the researcher points out.
More positive, pop?
Even though this area of study is emerging, it is possible to hypothesize that fans of pop music would have better mental health.
“More musical trajectories mainstreamwhich is aimed more at the majority of people, are usually associated with psychological states which are more positive, such as relaxation, lightness, the happiness of being together,” explains M.me McConnell.
The situation is different for so-called marginal styles of music. However, they can also have positive effects on mental health. Studies suggest that belonging to these groups can have psychological benefits, particularly with regard to “heavy metal”, which is linked to the channeling of emotions, says Ms. McConnell. These musical styles can therefore be both risk factors and “lifelines”, depending on the individual, according to the researcher.
Should we be concerned that a teenager likes gothic music?
According to Mme McConnell, we should not systematically prevent a teenager from listening to gothic music. For the researcher, we must rather see this interest as a “potential red flag”, and focus more on this musical choice, to understand what the young person likes about gothic culture.
“There would be two things to look at: what is the intensity of the preference, and to what extent does it take up space in the teenager’s life, and to what extent the themes are valued,” indicates Mme McConnell. It is also important to check if the young person’s entire social group is based on Gothic culture, and what subjects covered by this musical genre are highlighted.
The doctoral student reiterated that listening to gothic music can be a refuge for some adolescents and that there is no need to stigmatize goth culture, but it can be an indicator to observe what surrounds this musical interest.