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 Conflicts 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.