The sound of self-regulation: Music program relates to an advantage for children at risk

Abstract

Promoting self-regulatory development represents a critical concern for all early childhood educational programs, and particularly those serving children at risk via poverty. Stressors related to poverty tax children's physiological stress-response systems and self-regulatory capacities, challenging healthy development. The present study examined an early childhood music intervention designed to promote children's self-regulatory skill development. The participants were 191 children ages 3-5 years old who faced economic hardship. A quasi-experimental, stepped-wedge design that included four preschools and 3 study years facilitated comparing across the school year children who received preschool programming as usual (n = 43) with those who additionally received the music intervention (n =148). Well validated child assessments measured the inhibitory control aspect of self-regulation, as well as receptive vocabulary, and a parent interview measured demographic covariates. Core analyses with hierarchical linear modeling revealed that, compared with peers who received programming as usual, children who received the music intervention showed greater growth in inhibitory control across the preschool year. Implications concern the potential for early childhood music programming to promote self-regulation and support positive development for children facing economic hardship.