The paper aims to investigate the effect of music therapy in promoting emotional intelligence development in children, conceptualized as those traits related to emotional awareness (how one identifies emotions), emotional regulation (one’s ability to control emotions expressed and experienced, or displayed in socially appropriate ways), empathy (to sense and understand all affective experiences like suffering) and social competence. The study, which was carried out with 60 children aged 6-12 using a mixed-methods approach, compared an intervention group who went to weekly music therapy sessions with a control group receiving regular social-emotional learning (SEL) training. This took place over 12 weeks and involved collecting and analyzing both quantitative data — in the form of pre- and post-intervention emotional intelligence assessments, along with qualitative data — interviews and observations.

Study results demonstrated that parents of children in the music therapy group reported a significant increase in all aspects of emotional intelligence than the control group. However, they showed significant improvements in emotional awareness and regulation: Children could recognize their feelings and control them more adeptly. They also did better in empathy and social competence, which study co-leader Alison Ledgerwood said might have been due to the collaborative nature of the music therapy sessions. These results indicate that music therapy is a non-verbal creative method of emotional development, outstripping traditional SEL models for most children.

The potential of music therapy as an educational and/or therapeutic medium for supporting the lived experiences associated with emotional and social development is made clear through this study. More research is needed on how music therapy influences emotional development in the long-term and factors to consider, such as the relationship of each musical element with emotional intelligence. Researchers posit that this research may serve as a guide for incorporating music therapy into school curricula and psychological intervention programs aimed at developing emotional intelligence in children.