Poster #58 - Musical early learning program, parental sensitivity and socioemotional outcome: a randomized control trial

• In Event: Poster Session 19

Abstract

Parent-child relationships and children's socioemotional functioning have been studied for over 50 years. A key finding of such research is that parental sensitivity predicts a range of child outcomes, including attachment security (Atkinson et al., 2000; De Wolff & van IJzendoorn, 1997; Goldsmith & Alansky, 1987) and different aspects of socioemotional development in toddlers (Leerkes, 2009) and preschoolers (Bernier et al., 2021). Meta-analyses have shown that securely attached children are more likely to develop more positive social skills and have fewer behaviour problems than insecurely attached ones (Cooke et al., 2022; Groh et al., 2017; Rodriguez et al., 2021). It is therefore important to promote parenting practices that support the development of secure attachment in children. Researchers have developed parenting interventions with different populations and settings (home, community, clinic, or combination) to achieve this purpose. While studies have found that most of these programs improve parent-child relationships and support positive child outcomes (Jeong et al., 2021), it is unclear whether it is strictly attachment-based interventions that are responsible for effects or whether other, interaction-based interventions might accomplish similar objectives.
This randomized controlled trial examined the effects of participating in a music-based intervention strategy implemented in a community setting. Specifically, we measured the direct and indirect effects of participation in a Music Early Learning Program (MELP) on parental sensitivity and socioemotional functioning in children aged 2 to 5. Given the results of previous studies (i.e., Nicholson et al., 2008; Nicholson et al., 2010; Williams et al., 2012), we hypothesized that participation in a MELP would promote parental sensitivity and that this improvement would positively affect child behaviors. To test these hypotheses, 38 families were randomly assigned to a MELP or to a no-MELP condition. To assess the different variables at the heart of this research, we conducted home visits before and after implementing the MELP. We used the Maternal Behavior Q-Sort (MBQS, Tarabulsy et al., 2009) to assess parental sensitivity and the Behavioral Assessment Scoring System (BASC-3, Reynolds & Kamphaus, 2015) to assess child socioemotional functioning.
Consistent with previous studies, we found that participation in a MELP showed greater and more positive changes in parental sensitivity during interactions with their children. However, participation in the MELP did not affect variables linked to child socioemotional outcome. These findings indicate that exposure to MELPs may have benefits for parent-child interactions and relationships in much the same way as attachment-based intervention. However, the absence of child-based, socioemotional results suggests that other factors are involved that either facilitate or hinder changes in child outcomes. More research is required to draw out the specific mechanisms involved in changes to parental sensitivity of mothers exposed to MELPs. Discussion focuses on the MELP-based mechanisms that may provide changes in sensitivity, as well as on the developmental processes that may be involved in such changes.

Authors

• Gaudette-Leblanc Aimée, Laval University
  Presenting Author

• Jonathan Bolduc, Université Laval

• Sébastien Boucher, Université du Québec à Montréal

• Andrea Creech, Université McGill

• Julie Raymond, Université Laval

• George M Tarabulsy, University Laval