The Effectiveness of Music Therapy on Attention and Concentration, Social Adjustment and Aggression of Students with Intellectual Disability

With the growing tendency towards the use of music and related activities in the field of medicine in recent years, the present article was done with the aim to investigate the effectiveness of music therapy on attention and concentration, social adjustment and aggression of students with intellectual disability.

The research method was quasi-experimental with a pretest and posttest design plus control group. The statistical society of the study consisted of male students with intellectual disability in second grade of elementary exceptional schools during 2021-2022 and among them 30 students were selected in available sampling method as the sample case and categorized in experimental group (15 students) and control group (15 students). Data collection tools included Wechsler (4th edition) scale to evaluate students` attention and concentration of active memory, Sinha and Singe social adjustment questionnaire and Shahim aggression questionnaire. The validity of research instruments was confirmed by the approval of specialists, the reliability of social adjustment questionnaire was determined through Kruder-Richardson and for the other research instruments`, the reliability was estimated and approved by calculating Cronbach alpha coefficient (α> 0.7). Prior to the study, Pre-test of attention and concentration, social adjustment and aggression was implemented in both groups. The experimental group received music therapy through the training package in 12 sessions, but the control group did not receive any training therapy. After the training course in the post-test stage, both of the groups answered to the same questionnaire of pre-test stage. The research data was analyzed with one way and Multivariate Covariance Analysis.

The results revealed that the music therapy had a positive effect on the increase of students’ attention and concentration, social adjustment and their two subscales, also on the reduction of their aggression with its two subscales (P<0.05).

According to the effectiveness of the music therapy in the present research, it was suggested to apply periodically the methods of music therapy with the aim to increase their attention and concentration and social adjustment, and also to decrease intellectually disabled students’ aggression and anxiety.