The Effect of Music Therapy Interventions on the Development of Resilience in Elementary School Children of Varying Primary Language Backgrounds

Download or read book The Effect of Music Therapy Interventions on the Development of Resilience in Elementary School Children of Varying Primary Language Backgrounds written by Taylor M. Light and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 75 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The majority of Dual Language Learners (DLLs) in American public schools are immigrants of Hispanic/Latino descent. Research has shown that these students face a variety of unique challenges to physical and psychological wellbeing, and that the negative effects of these challenges may be tempered by improved resilience in a multicultural educational environment. This quasi-experimental, exploratory study examined the effect of group music therapy interventions on the developing resilience of multicultural subjects. Seven elementary school students (both dual language learners and native English speakers) were individually tested on several factors of resilience as measured by the Child and Youth Resilience Measure (CYRM-26) (Ungar & Liebenberg, 2011). All subjects participated in six group music therapy sessions over the course of 11 weeks; interventions were designed to promote the development of personal skills, to increase subject perception of peer support, and to improve subjects' sense of belonging in educational and cultural contexts. Subjects were retested individually following the final session, and results indicated statistically significant increases in overall resilience for the group as a whole. Significant increases were also noted in subject perception of overall context and sense of belonging, sense of belonging in cultural contexts, and in the psychological caregiving subscale cluster. This evidence suggests that targeted group music therapy interventions may be effective for increasing overall resilience and contributing factors thereof in elementary school children of varying primary language backgrounds.