Stressors and psychological distress: Music listening as a coping strategy for pre-service kindergarten teachers

Abstract

Against the backdrop of the worldwide spread of COVID-19, this study aims to validate a model for coping with psychological distress and examine the effect of music listening, as a coping strategy, in moderating and lessening the effects of stressors on psychological distress. Based on 198 returned questionnaires from preservice kindergarten teachers, this study suggests students experienced such common mental health issues as stress, anxiety and depression due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Time pressures, general social mistreatment, academic alienation and developmental challenges were significant stressors predicting students’ anxiety. Music listening played a prominent moderating role on the relationship between stressors and psychological wellbeing mental health/psychological distress. However, music with lyrics with a positive meaning may lessen the moderating effect of musical elements. This study suggests that music listening has a prominent moderating effect on health/psychological distress, while the implicit or explicit musical meaning of the music perceived by the audience determines its moderating effect.

The impact of COVID-19 on the delivery of preservice teacher education: a scoping review

“…Nevertheless, within the date range of the scoping study, only one article examined preservice teachers’ psychological health during the pandemic. Clearly, the issue has not attracted much research attention despite the recognized impact of stress on learning (Kong & Wong, 2021 ). Kong and Wong ( 2021 ) aimed to validate a model that offered a strategy to cope with psychological distress by examining the efficacy of listening to music in moderating and lessening the impact of stressors on psychological well-being.…”

“…Clearly, the issue has not attracted much research attention despite the recognized impact of stress on learning (Kong & Wong, 2021 ). Kong and Wong ( 2021 ) aimed to validate a model that offered a strategy to cope with psychological distress by examining the efficacy of listening to music in moderating and lessening the impact of stressors on psychological well-being. Studies have often claimed that listening to music plays a prominent moderating role in the relation between stressors and psychological distress, but Kong and Wong found that this was not universally the case.…”

“…Studies have often claimed that listening to music plays a prominent moderating role in the relation between stressors and psychological distress, but Kong and Wong found that this was not universally the case. Counter intuitively, music with lyrics that had a positive meaning could reduce the moderating effect of listening to music, so although the study suggested that music listening had a generally significant moderating impact on psychological well-being, the implicit or explicit meaning of the music, as perceived by the listener, determined its moderating effect (Kong & Wong, 2021 ).…”

The Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic on Music Education: A Review of the Literature

“…Many situations during the pandemic were more difficult for music teachers and students than usual, which in turn caused some emotional or physical tension. Research (Kong & Wong, 2021;Miksza et al, 2021;Potter, 2021) revealed that the stress for music teachers was due to a heavy workload and a lack of control over equipment and performance. In addition, during the pandemic, teachers experienced few positive emotions, less involvement, and a lack of accomplishment.…”

“…Understanding the elements that lead to burnout and paying attention to personal feelings can help music teachers respond to stress and take a rest on time if they feel tense (Napoles, 2022). Making music by using different strategies helps music teachers experience less anxiety (Merve et al, 2021) while listening to music can regulate psychological discomfort (Kong & Wong, 2021). To make students feel good, teachers can create a virtual space where students can share their emotions and encourage each other, create an exciting learning experience and a supportive socio-emotional learning environment, and take care of their needs and listen to them (Liu, 2021b).…”