Professor Pat Thomson, CLA’s Senior Evidence Associate, reports on a scoping review of research that examines how music learning impacts the wellbeing of school children and teenagers, and looks at individual and social outcomes – which chimes with our Capabilities Framework which describes the personal and societal benefits of arts learning, and in which one of the seven key capabilities is wellbeing.
Goopy, J and MacArthur, S (2025) Music learning and school aged children and adolescents’ wellbeing: A scoping review. Research Studies in Music Education. https://doi.org/10.1177/1321103X251323562 (Open Access)
This scoping review examines how music learning impacts the wellbeing of school-aged children and adolescents.
The researchers searched nine databases, finding 423 papers. They analysed 30 studies that met their inclusion criteria – studies that focused specifically on music learning (rather than just participation or listening) and wellbeing outcomes for children and adolescents aged 5-18. The review encompassed diverse learning contexts, from traditional school programmes to community initiatives, juvenile detention centres, and specialised programmes for vulnerable populations.
Key Findings
The review found overwhelmingly positive outcomes, with all but one study reporting that music learning benefited student wellbeing.
The review divides wellbeing outcomes into three interconnected domains – individual, social and educational. Individual outcomes included enhanced confidence, self-esteem, emotional awareness, and personal fulfillment. Social outcomes encompassed improved sense of belonging, strengthened relationships, and better social skills. Educational outcomes were increased motivation to learn, engagement, and sense of accomplishment.
The review also identified ten characteristics of music learning programmes that supported wellbeing. These included shared and active music-making, creating musical products, focused listening, maintaining artistic excellence, tailoring learning to individual needs, participant empowerment, providing direct feedback, centring positive relationships, ensuring safe learning environments, and incorporating fun yet challenging activities. These characteristics offer practical directions for arts educators seeking to maximise the wellbeing impact of their programmes.
And the three domains the researchers used – individual, social and educational – might be helpful to arts educators more generally to consider how their work contributes to student flourishing beyond traditional notions of achievement.
Lessons for music education research
Goopy and MacArthur found that music education and wellbeing research was concentrated in the United Kingdom and Australia, with notable absences from North America and non-Western contexts. We thus don’t yet know a lot about diverse cultural contexts or with different educational systems. And only seven of the thirty studies examined regular school music programmes, with most focusing on specialised community programmes or interventions for specific populations. Music educators working in mainstream educational settings thus have opportunities to contribute to understanding how music learning supports wellbeing in typical school contexts.
The lack of large-scale studies that the researchers found means that much of the wellbeing evidence and understanding comes from small, context-specific programmes. While this provides rich detail about particular settings, it makes it difficult to generalise findings or advocate for broader policy support. There was also potential bias in some research, the authors noted, as studies were sometimes commissioned for advocacy purposes or to support funding applications.
Goopy and MacArthur conclude that music education researchers could engage in more interdisciplinary collaboration with wellbeing researchers, develop music-specific wellbeing measurement tools, and examine more closely how specific musical activities contribute to particular wellbeing outcomes. In particular, the authors recommend research that uses mixed method approaches that combine standardised quantitative measurement tools with qualitative data collection methods, enabling both comparable results and rich contextual understanding.
Moving Forward
For arts educators, this research validates their existing understandings that music learning offers wellbeing benefits. However, there is also an opportunity to become more active in understanding, measuring, and articulating these benefits.
