Music therapy in psychological and educational context: Enhancing emotional and cognitive development of students

In recent years, music therapy has gained popularity, sparking interest in examining its effectiveness. The primary objective of this article is to analyze the effectiveness of an intervention program of music therapy on the emotional and cognitive development of young individuals. The study design...

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Main Author: YingDong Guo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-04-01
Series:Acta Psychologica
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001691825001337
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author YingDong Guo
author_facet YingDong Guo
author_sort YingDong Guo
collection DOAJ
description In recent years, music therapy has gained popularity, sparking interest in examining its effectiveness. The primary objective of this article is to analyze the effectiveness of an intervention program of music therapy on the emotional and cognitive development of young individuals. The study design is the intervention-control study. The participants consisted of 140 students from a university in Ukraine: 70 individuals diagnosed with clinical depression and 70 individuals who did not report any psychological disorders. The instruments utilized included the Psychological General Well-Being Index, Wechsler Memory Scale, and Conners' Continuous Performance Test-Second Edition. The results indicated that music therapy led to a significant improvement in the measured parameters across both contexts, albeit with varying degrees of effectiveness. In the educational context, psychological well-being increased by 10.40 points (p = 0.000), memory by 1.89 points (p = 0.005), and attention by 1.69 points (p = 0.000). In the psychological context, the effects were more pronounced: psychological well-being increased by 11.92 points, memory by 3.31 points, and attention by 1.57 points (all p = 0.000). Furthermore, effect size analysis revealed that music therapy exerted a very large impact in the psychological context on psychological well-being (d = 3.71), memory (d = 2.67), and attention (d = 1.17), whereas in the educational context, the effects were significant but comparatively lower (d = 4.36, 0.90, and 0.67, respectively). These findings highlight the differential impact of music therapy depending on the context of its implementation, emphasizing the necessity of context-specific approaches to maximize its benefits. This study contributes to the growing body of research demonstrating the effectiveness of music therapy in both psychological treatment and educational enhancement, supporting its broader integration into mental health and academic settings.
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spelling doaj-art-538cdcef0aed4d17980f8ce63bf2cf7e2025-08-20T03:05:52ZengElsevierActa Psychologica0001-69182025-04-0125410482010.1016/j.actpsy.2025.104820Music therapy in psychological and educational context: Enhancing emotional and cognitive development of studentsYingDong Guo0Corresponding author.; Music Art, Lviv National Music Academy named after Mykola Lysenko, Lviv, UkraineIn recent years, music therapy has gained popularity, sparking interest in examining its effectiveness. The primary objective of this article is to analyze the effectiveness of an intervention program of music therapy on the emotional and cognitive development of young individuals. The study design is the intervention-control study. The participants consisted of 140 students from a university in Ukraine: 70 individuals diagnosed with clinical depression and 70 individuals who did not report any psychological disorders. The instruments utilized included the Psychological General Well-Being Index, Wechsler Memory Scale, and Conners' Continuous Performance Test-Second Edition. The results indicated that music therapy led to a significant improvement in the measured parameters across both contexts, albeit with varying degrees of effectiveness. In the educational context, psychological well-being increased by 10.40 points (p = 0.000), memory by 1.89 points (p = 0.005), and attention by 1.69 points (p = 0.000). In the psychological context, the effects were more pronounced: psychological well-being increased by 11.92 points, memory by 3.31 points, and attention by 1.57 points (all p = 0.000). Furthermore, effect size analysis revealed that music therapy exerted a very large impact in the psychological context on psychological well-being (d = 3.71), memory (d = 2.67), and attention (d = 1.17), whereas in the educational context, the effects were significant but comparatively lower (d = 4.36, 0.90, and 0.67, respectively). These findings highlight the differential impact of music therapy depending on the context of its implementation, emphasizing the necessity of context-specific approaches to maximize its benefits. This study contributes to the growing body of research demonstrating the effectiveness of music therapy in both psychological treatment and educational enhancement, supporting its broader integration into mental health and academic settings.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001691825001337AttentionMemoryPsychologyWell-beingUniversity
spellingShingle YingDong Guo
Music therapy in psychological and educational context: Enhancing emotional and cognitive development of students
Acta Psychologica
Attention
Memory
Psychology
Well-being
University
title Music therapy in psychological and educational context: Enhancing emotional and cognitive development of students
title_full Music therapy in psychological and educational context: Enhancing emotional and cognitive development of students
title_fullStr Music therapy in psychological and educational context: Enhancing emotional and cognitive development of students
title_full_unstemmed Music therapy in psychological and educational context: Enhancing emotional and cognitive development of students
title_short Music therapy in psychological and educational context: Enhancing emotional and cognitive development of students
title_sort music therapy in psychological and educational context enhancing emotional and cognitive development of students
topic Attention
Memory
Psychology
Well-being
University
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001691825001337
work_keys_str_mv AT yingdongguo musictherapyinpsychologicalandeducationalcontextenhancingemotionalandcognitivedevelopmentofstudents