Effect of educational music intervention on college students' aggressive behaviour.

BACKGROUND: Students' aggressive behavior and its negative implications have continued to intrigue researchers. Thus, the present study examined the effect of educational music intervention in reducing aggressive behavior among college students. METHOD: Quantitative data were collected from 30 college student participants in the treatment group and 30 college student participants in the control group using the teacher-rating of students' aggressive behaviors and self-rated aggression scale instruments. This study adopted the IBM SPSS version 25 program and JASP statistical program for data analysis. RESULTS: The result of the study indicated that college students in the educational music group showed considerable mean decline in aggressive behavior at posttest compared to their counterparts in the control group. At follow-up, it was revealed that educational music intervention consistently reduced the college students' aggressive behavior. CONCLUSION: Educational music intervention proved to be a helpful intervention in reducing Nigerian college students' aggressive behavior. In light of this, it would be beneficial to implement educational music intervention to reduce aggressive behavior among college students in other localities.

Effects of educational music training on music performance anxiety and stress response among first-year undergraduate music education students.

BACKGROUND: The effectiveness of educational music training in lowering stress and performance anxiety among first-year undergraduate music education students is an understudied area. The goal of this study was to determine if educational music training affects first-year undergraduate music education students' stress and anxiety associated with musical performance. METHODS: A randomized controlled trial design was used in this study. A waiting list group of 35 students and an educational music training intervention group of 35 first-year undergraduate music education students were randomized for the study to commence. The Kenny music performance anxiety (MPA) scale and perceived stress scale (PSS) were used as outcome measures. RESULTS: The findings show that, among first-year undergraduate music education students, educational music training decreased their stress level associated with music performance [F(1, 68) = 390.751; P = .001, ηp2 = 0.270]. It was also found that after the educational music training, the students reported decreased anxiety level associated with music performance [F(1, 68) = 1375.495; P = .001, ηp2 = 0.344]. Significant interaction effects of educational music training and time on students' stress [F(2, 68) = 127.301; P = .001] and anxiety levels [F(2, 68) = 260.535; P = .001] were also found. CONCLUSION: Educational music intervention can be successful as a means of reducing anxiety and stress in undergraduate music education students during the first year of study.

Effect of educational music intervention on emotion regulation skills of first-year university music education students.

BACKGROUND: Making music and listening to music have been found to contribute to positive mental health. In this study, we examined whether educational music intervention improved emotion regulation skills among first-year university music education students. METHODS: The design of the study consisted of a randomized controlled trial with a treatment group as well as a control group. Students were randomly distributed to an intervention group and a control group. Students in the intervention group participated in twice-weekly group sessions for 8 weeks that discussed problem-solving skills, calming techniques, and retraining attributions. Instruments for data collection were; the Emotion Regulation Skills Scale and the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire. RESULTS: Results demonstrate that educational music intervention can facilitate the development of emotional regulation skills in undergraduate students majoring in music education. CONCLUSION: Based on the results of this study, educational music intervention is effective in enhancing emotional regulation among first-year undergraduate music education students. The educational music program provides participants with the opportunity to enhance their ability to regulate their emotions.

Effect of cognitive-behavioral therapy with music therapy in reducing physics test anxiety among students as measured by generalized test anxiety scale.

BACKGROUND: The study determined the effect of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) with music in reducing physics test anxiety among secondary school students as measured by generalized test anxiety scale. METHODS: Pre-test post-test randomized control trial experimental design was adopted in this study. A total of 83 senior secondary students including male (n = 46) and female (n = 37) from sampled secondary schools in Enugu State, Nigeria, who met the inclusion criteria constituted participants for the study. A demographic questionnaire and a 48-item generalized test anxiety scale were used for data collection for the study. Subjects were randomized into treatment and control groups. The treatment group was exposed to a 12-week CBT-music program. Thereafter, the participants in the treatment group were evaluated at 3 time points. Data collected were analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance. RESULTS: The participants who were exposed to CBT-music intervention program significantly had lower test anxiety scores at the post-treatment than the participants in the control group. Furthermore, the test anxiety scores of the participants in the CBT-music group were significantly lower than those in the control group at the follow-up measure. Thus, the results showed a significant effect of CBT with music in reducing physics test anxiety among secondary school students. CONCLUSION: We concluded that CBT-music program has a significant benefit in improving the management of physics test anxiety among secondary school students.

Randomized controlled evaluation of the effect of music therapy with cognitive-behavioral therapy on social anxiety symptoms.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the effects of music therapy with cognitive behavioral therapy on social anxiety in a sample of schooling adolescents in south-east Nigeria. METHODS: We adopted a randomized controlled trial design involving a treatment group and a waiting-list control group. A total of 155 schooling adolescents served as the study sample. The sample size was ascertained using GPower software. A 12-week MTCBP manual for social anxiety was employed to deliver the intervention. Data analyses were completed using repeated measures analysis of variance. RESULTS: We found that social anxiety significantly decreased in the treatment group over time, whereas the waitlist control group showed no significant changes in social anxiety. Therefore, music therapy with cognitive-behavioral therapy was significantly beneficial in decreasing social anxiety symptoms of the treatment group. The follow-up assessment performed after 3 months revealed a significant reduction in social anxiety for the treatment group. CONCLUSION: The study, therefore, suggests that the use of music therapy with cognitive-behavioral therapy is significant in reducing social anxiety among schooling adolescents.

Effectiveness of music therapy with relaxation technique on stress management as measured by perceived stress scale.

BACKGROUND: Living in Nigerian environment is enough stress. In our time, many students could not cope with the stress of school environment like ours and others are still suffering from different health problems attributed to stress. Based on this, we investigated the effect of music therapy with relaxation technique on stress management among university students in southeastern Nigeria. METHODS: Participants for the study were 142 university students in the Southeastern Nigeria. Perceived stress scale (PSS) was used to measure the symptoms of stress. Statistical tool used was repeated measures with analysis of variance (ANOVA) to ascertain the effectiveness of music therapy with relaxation. Among other tools used was Partial η to examine the effect sizes and level of changes inthemanagement of stress across groups. RESULTS: The finding indicated that there were no baseline differences in levels of stress management between participants in the treatment and waitlist control conditions. Results revealed significant improvement in stress management for participants in the music therapy with relaxation group, whereas the waitlist control group showed no significant change in their score over the same period. Furthermore, the positive effect of music therapy with relaxation was maintained at follow-up. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study suggest that the efficacy of music therapy with relaxation technique for improving the students' stress management can be consistent at follow-up. Hence, music therapists, counsellors and psychotherapists should continue to investigate the beneficial effects of music therapy with relaxation on stress management among university students in every part of the world.