Rock music as therapy for children with Attention Deficit Disorder: An exploratory study.

Journal/Book: Journal of Music Therapy. 1986; 23: Silver Spring, Maryland, USA. National Association for Music Therapy. 30-37.

Abstract: Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) constitutes a management problem for parents, teachers and others dealing with the child. The usual methods of management are drug therapy, diet therapy and behavior therapy. Rock music was proposed as an adjunctive therapy which could provide additional supportive management and which could be administered without training. It was hypothe- sized that when rock music was introduced to the ADD child, he or she would demonstrate a decreased activity level and an increased attention span. A re- peated measures factorial design was used to test the responses of eight males, ages six to eight years, to rock music. Test sessions were conducted in a playroom; the specific behaviors observed were activity level (number of activities within a time frame) and attention span (length of time attending to one task). Results indicated a statistically significant reduction in the number of motor activities during music periods within the test sessions; no significant differences were noted in attention span.

Keyword(s): attention-deficit, hyperactivity-disorder, children, music, rock-and-roll-music, attention-span, activity-level, hyperactivity.

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