Does music help children grow up? Parental views from a longitudinal panel study

Abstract

Previous research has identified families as hubs for musical development, but little is known about the reciprocal effects on familial dynamics. Here, we address the long-term associations between familial music and parental perceptions of their children’s personality. To these ends, we analysed a subset of data from the German Panel Analysis of Intimate Relationships and Family Dynamics study, a longitudinal cohort study. A total of 839 data sets from parents with their children, covering four waves over a period of six years, served as our database. The frequency of engagement in Singing and Playing Musical Instruments, Reading Books or Storytelling and Shopping represented independent measures, whereas the ratings of Prosocial Behaviour, Intimacy, Admiration, and C onflicts served as dependent measures in the panel regression models. A substantial decline in everyday activities was noted as children grew older, with the exception of Shopping. Parental education, but not family net income, was found to be correlated with familial music activities. These activities were correlated with three facets of children’s personality, Prosocial Behaviour, Intimacy, and Admiration, based on both fixed- and random-effects models. The correlations, however, were partially weakened when Reading or Storytelling and Shopping were entered into the models. Our findings suggest that familial music activities may exert long-term and causal influences on familial dynamics, as reflected through important facets of children’s personality.

Exploring Changes in Musical Behaviors of Caregivers and Children in Social Distancing During the COVID-19 Outbreak

“…Thus, it is possible that these cultural tendencies may be embedded in Brazilian's beliefs and practices concerning music parenting/caregiving (Ilari et al, 2011 ). Alternatively, it may be that caregivers found in these shared musical experiences an opportunity for safe time-passing (Schubert, 2009 ; Schäfer et al, 2013 ), entertainment (Trehub and Schellenberg, 1995 ), caregiver-child bonding (Creighton et al, 2013 ; Boer and Abubakar, 2014 ; Persico et al, 2017 ; Fancourt and Perkins, 2018a , b ), or to promote individual and collective well-being (Saarikallio, 2009 ; Schäfer et al, 2013 ; Kreutz and Feldhaus, 2020 ).…”

“…Musical parenting plays a central role in childhood musical experiences. A robust body of literature demonstrates that caregivers of children under the age of 6 years tend to interact musically with their children (Custodero and Johnson-Green, 2003 ; Young, 2003 ; Ilari, 2005 ; Addessi, 2009 ; Barrett, 2009 ; de Vries, 2009 ; Mehr, 2014 ; Pitt and Hargreaves, 2017 ), although the frequency of joint musical interactions seems to progressively diminish as the child reaches toddlerhood (Custodero et al, 2003 ; Kreutz and Feldhaus, 2020 ). Caregiver-child musical activities in the preschool years involve, for instance, joint and supported singing, improvising songs to accompany everyday routines, playing musical toys and instruments with the child, dancing, and listening to recorded music (Custodero and Johnson-Green, 2003 ; Addessi, 2009 ; Barrett, 2009 ; Trehub et al, 2015 ; Corbeil et al, 2016 ; Politimou et al, 2018 ; Cirelli et al, 2019 ).…”

“…Caregiver-child musical activities in the preschool years involve, for instance, joint and supported singing, improvising songs to accompany everyday routines, playing musical toys and instruments with the child, dancing, and listening to recorded music (Custodero and Johnson-Green, 2003 ; Addessi, 2009 ; Barrett, 2009 ; Trehub et al, 2015 ; Corbeil et al, 2016 ; Politimou et al, 2018 ; Cirelli et al, 2019 ). Studies have shown that these musical activities have important effects on family dynamics and relationships (Kreutz and Feldhaus, 2020 ) and provide a meaningful context to foster caregiver-child engagement across families of young children with and without developmental disabilities (Thompson, 2014 ; Thompson et al, 2019 ; Lense and Camarata, 2020 ; Steinberg et al, 2020 ). Interestingly, Saarikallio ( 2009 ) reported that caregivers of children between the ages of 3 and 8 years often also use music for mood regulation purposes.…”

The German Music@Home: Validation of a questionnaire measuring at home musical exposure and interaction of young children

“…appreciation). Overall, the study showed that music activities in the family setting have an effect on family dynamics, relationships and children's personality [20], emphasizing that musical engagement at home is an important factor to consider when conducting studies with children.…”

“…Recently, Kreutz and Feldhaus [20] examined the development of familial musical engagement as well as other everyday activities, such as reading and shopping and how these are related to children's personality. They revealed that the amount of musical activity declined in this age range as children grew older (ages ranged from seven to 14 years), in contrast to other activities which tended to remain stable over time.…”