Impact of Music Therapy to Promote Positive Parenting and Child Development

Abstract

The effectiveness of a 10-week group music therapy program for marginalized parents and their children aged 0-5 years was examined. Musical activities were used to promote positive parent-child relationships and children's behavioral, communicative and social development. Participants were 358 parents and children from families facing social disadvantage, young parents or parents of a child with a disability. Significant improvements were found for therapist-observed parent and child behaviors, and parent-reported irritable parenting, educational activities in the home, parent mental health and child communication and social play skills. This study provides evidence of the potential effectiveness of music therapy for early intervention.

Associations between early shared music activities in the home and later child outcomes: Findings from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children

“…Parent-child music therapy efficacy studies indicate that joint active music participation is associated with improved parent-child interactions and enhanced impulse control or self-regulation skills (Pasiali, 2012), and social and communication skills for children (Mackenzie and Hamlett, 2005, Nicholson et al, 2008,Nicholson et al, 2010, Walworth, 2009and Williams et al, 2012. These correlational studies have largely been with small numbers of participants and with specialized populations deemed to require additional parenting and child development support.…”

Music therapy and parent–infant bonding

“…The role of the therapeutic relationship between the therapist and the dyad and how this is established, fostered and maintained in a music therapy context, including in group programmes, could be further elaborated. Measurement and evaluation of outcomes has received some attention (for example Nicholson et al 2008;Standley et al 2009). However, standardized evaluation tools for routine use in music therapy parent-infant programmes could be usefully developed.…”

“…The first study to evaluate a short term early intervention music therapy parent-infant programme using validated measures found that for 358 parents and infants, a number of significant benefits impacted the parent and child in a range of areas including education in the home and parental mental health (Nicholson et al 2008).…”

“…(Beebe and Lachmann p. 500) Promoting the use of music as a means to enjoy and explore parent infant relations is not new. However, the impact of music therapy interventions on the development of the bonds of attachment is increasingly of interest within the music therapy community of practitioners working with vulnerable parents and infants , especially in the early intervention setting (Jonsdottir 2002;Edwards et al 2007;Nicholson et al 2008).…”

Teen Mother and Child Experiences in a Parent-Child Music Program

“…Cumulatively, research findings suggest that parent-child music programs can: 1) encourage engagement and bonding (Edwards, 2011;Lyons, 2000;Nicholson, Berthelsen, Abad, Williams, & Bradley, 2008;Oldfield, Adams, & Bunce, 2003;Oldfield & Bunce, 2001); 2) model parenting skills through children's music and movement activities (Burrell, 2011;Creighton, 2011;Kelly, 2011); 3) nurture parent-child interactions (Edwards, 2011;McDonald et al, 2009); 4) stimulate child developmental and social skills (Kelly, 2011;Nicholson, Berthelsen, Abad, Williams, & Bradley, 2008); and 5) support maternal wellbeing (Gudmundsdottir & Gudmundsdottir, 2010). Moreover, parent-child music programs have been well received by families from disadvantaged and marginalized circumstances (Cunningham, 2011;Kelly, 2011;Ledger, 2011;Nicholson et al, 2008). Typically, most parenting programs are not well attended by families who are disadvantaged and marginalized (Nicholson et al, 2008); however, parent-child music programs have been found to be better attended, to encourage positive interactions, to develop children's skills, and to promote inter-family relationships with people in these circumstances (Ledger, 2011;Nicholson et al, 2008).…”