After-School Music Education Program Linked to Social-Emotional Advantages for Children Facing Economic Hardship

• In Event: Social and Emotional Learning and the Arts

Abstract

The present study examined the impact of an afterschool music education program on social-emotional functioning for children facing risks related to poverty and racism. Participants were 607 elementary school students, 345 of whom participated in the afterschool program and 158 of whom served as a comparison group. Participants completed an applied measure of persistence on a novel musical task as well as a well validated measure of social-emotional functioning. A multivariate analysis of covariance indicated that those in the music program showed greater growth in persistence, and greater improvement in terms of social-emotional problems. Implications concern arts equity and potential benefits of music education for children’s social-emotional functioning.

Authors

• Eleanor DeMaris Brown, West Chester University of Pennsylvania

• Mallory Garnett, West Chester University of Pennsylvania

• Blanca Velazquez-Martin, West Chester University of Pennsylvania