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Effect of Educational Music Intervention On.19
Effect of Educational Music Intervention On.19
Effect of Educational Music Intervention On.19
Abstract
Background: Students’ aggressive behavior and its negative implications have continued to intrigue researchers. Thus, the
present study examined the effect of educational music intervention in reducing aggressive behavior among college students.
Method: Quantitative data were collected from 30 college student participants in the treatment group and 30 college student
participants in the control group using the teacher-rating of students’ aggressive behaviors and self-rated aggression scale
instruments. This study adopted the IBM SPSS version 25 program and JASP statistical program for data analysis.
Results: The result of the study indicated that college students in the educational music group showed considerable mean
decline in aggressive behavior at posttest compared to their counterparts in the control group. At follow-up, it was revealed that
educational music intervention consistently reduced the college students’ aggressive behavior.
Conclusion: Educational music intervention proved to be a helpful intervention in reducing Nigerian college students’ aggressive
behavior. In light of this, it would be beneficial to implement educational music intervention to reduce aggressive behavior among
college students in other localities.
Abbreviations: SRAS = self-rated aggression scale, TRAB = teacher-rating of students’ aggressive behaviors.
Keywords: aggressive behaviour, college students, educational music intervention, group, music educators
The authors have no funding to disclose. Copyright © 2023 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.
The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution-Non Commercial License 4.0 (CCBY-NC), where it is
The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are permissible to download, share, remix, transform, and buildup the work provided
available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. it is properly cited. The work cannot be used commercially without permission
The research ethics committee at the authors’ institution approved the study. from the journal.
Informed consent was required from all participants.
How to cite this article: Nwokenna EN, Sewagegn AA, Falade TA. Effect of
a
Department of Arts Education, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria, b Department educational music intervention on college students’ aggressive behaviour.
of Educational Psychology, University of Johannesburg, South Africa, c Institute of Medicine 2023;102:1(e32472).
Education and Behavioral Science, Debre Markos University, Debre Markos, Ethiopia,
d
Department of Educational Foundations, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria. Received: 24 September 2022 / Received in final form: 5 December 2022 /
Accepted: 6 December 2022
* Correspondence: Abatihun Alehegn Sewagegn, Institute of Education and
Behavioral Science, Debre Markos University, Debre Markos 269, Ethiopia http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/MD.0000000000032472
(abatihunalehegn@gmail.com).
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Nwokenna et al. • Medicine (2023) 102:1Medicine
interventions.[14] Music intervention also significantly reduced student’s response. The ratings for the questions on the 5-point
aggressive behavior in children with mild intellectual disabili- Likert scale varied from “never true” (0) to “almost always
ties.[15] More so, music intervention considerably lessened anx- true” (4). Based on the total score, the range was 0 to 42, with
iety, despair, pain, and weariness in adult patients.[16] Music higher scores indicating more aggressive behavior.
intervention decreased patients’ first postoperative day com-
plaints about noise, heart rate, and systolic blood pressure.[17] 2.2.2. Self-rated aggression scale (SRAS). In a prior study in
Music had a significant impact on graduate students’ depres- Nigeria, the SRAS was used.[32] Students responded to questions
sive symptoms.[18] Past group-based studies showed that music on whether they had hit, called names, or teased someone in the
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intervention is an effective approach for assisting children and previous 3 weeks using a 3-point Likert scale. These items have
adolescents with problems of aggression and low self-esteem.[19] response scores that range from “Not True” (0) to “Very True”
According to some studies, the effects of music intervention on (2). A total score was given to each participant ranging from 0
individual’s aggression may be realized by providing them with to 14, with higher ratings denoting more aggressive behavior.
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a psychologically healthy environment.[19–23] Through emotional They were also questioned if they had ever used a weapon,
catharsis, studies in adults have indicated that participation in whether they had been hurt during a fight or hurt someone else,
musical activities improves an individual’s ability to control and whether they belonged to a gang.
their emotions, particularly aggression and anger.[23,24] A study
conducted on children found that those who listened to music
showed statistically significant improvements in their results on 2.3. Experimental procedure
Achenbach Teacher’s Report Form on aggression/hostility scale We informed the school administrators about the study before
when compared with those who did not listen to music.[25] But, conducting the research in the study area. Flyers were also dis-
there is a lack of evidence concerning the effect of music inter- tributed to let students know about the screening. Pretesting
vention on Nigerian college students’ aggressive behavior in was provided to those who met the eligibility criteria. Before
spite of the increasing number of studies indicating that aggres- the commencement of the intervention program, the research-
sion is a significant issue among Nigerian college students.[26–29] ers conducted a 2-week briefing for the music educators. Music
The present study seeks to examine the effect of educational educators learned and prepared for the intervention delivery
music intervention in reducing aggressive behavior among col- through 4-session briefing. Music intervention took place in
lege students in Nigeria. a designated classroom at the selected colleges. Two meetings
per week, lasting 8 weeks, were scheduled between the hours
1.1. Study objective of 3 and 4 pm. The sessions lasted 45 minutes each. A 2-week
(4-session) follow-up phase was undertaken at the end of the
To ascertain the effect of educational music intervention on col- treatment after 3 months.
lege students’ aggressive behavior.
ENROLMENT
Randomized (n=60)
ALLOCATION
Control group (n=30)
Treatment group (n=30)
FOLLOW-UP
ANALYSIS
Analysed (n=30) Analysed (n=30)
equality of variance. Homogeneity of regression slope and test higher internal consistency with a coefficient of .892 for the
of sphericity were established for college students’ aggression. It TRAB and lower internal consistency with a coefficient of
is pertinent to note that for violations of the sphericity assump- .710 for the SRAS. However, the coefficients of the dataset
tion, Greenhouse–Geisser estimators were used to evaluate were reliable at the posttest. Finally, at posttest, the datasets
sphericity when ε is ≤0.75. generated recorded higher internal consistency with coef-
ficients of .970 and .801 respectively. This indicates a high
degree of reliability. In summary, the internal consistency of
3. Results the dataset generated from students’ aggressive behavior was
The demographic information of the participants with respect highly reliable.
to age showed that 23.3% of the respondents were within the Low and negative temporary stability coefficients of .021 and
age bracket of 17 to 21. Additionally, 50% of respondents are −.055 were recorded respectively for TRAB. This was expected
between the ages of 22 and 26, while 26.7% are between the because the dependent variable which is students’ aggres-
ages of 27 and above. Furthermore, the demographic variable sive behavior was supposed to decline due to the intervention
revealed that 46.7% of the respondents were male, while 53.3% program. However, the dataset generated at the posttest was
were female. correlated with the follow-up dataset. A very high temporary
The pretest dataset generated from TRAB and SRAS had stability coefficient of .706 was recorded. This was expected
internal consistency coefficients of .757 and .729, respectively. since these 2 datasets (posttest and follow-up) were generated
Reliability coefficients >0.6 are considered highly reliable.[26] after the intervention (educational music intervention) aimed at
The dataset generated during the posttesting phase showed reducing aggressive behavior.
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Nwokenna et al. • Medicine (2023) 102:1Medicine
Furthermore, for SRAS datasets, pretest score was correlated (M = 13.83, SD = 4.55) compared to control (M = 39.63,
with posttest and follow-up scores and a low coefficient of tem- SD = 2.78).
porary stability of −.055 and −.050 was recorded. As usual, it Since the sphericity assumption was violated by Mauchly
was expected since the dependent variable which is students’ test [x2 (2) = .845, P = .008)], researchers used the Greenhouse–
aggressive behavior was supposed to decline due to the inter- Geisser correction for data interpretation. There was a sta-
vention program. However, the dataset generated at the posttest tistically significant effect of time on TRAB scores of college
was correlated with the follow-up dataset and a very high tem- students’ aggressive behavior [F (2, 58) = 898.124, P < .001,
porary stability of .706 was established. This was expected ηp2 = .584]. Based on intervention, there was a significant
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since these 2 datasets (posttest and follow-up) were generated difference in aggressive behavior score between the control
after the intervention (educational music intervention) aimed at and music intervention group [F (1, 59) = 393.459; P < .001,
reducing aggressive behavior. ηp2 = .0.205]. Furthermore, the results revealed a significant
The result showed that there was no significance difference intervention and time interaction effect on the TRAB scores
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in the variance of the 2 groups as measured by TRAB F (1, of the college students (F [2, 58] = 219.484; P < .001 [see
58) = .372, P = .544, and SRAS F (1,58) = .098; P = .755, since Table 2]).
the P values of these datasets are >.05. Thus, the assumption of Holm post hoc test was conducted to compare the scores
homogeneity of variance was not violated by the dataset used based on instructional intervention. It was discovered that the
to measure college students’ aggressive behavior due to educa- music intervention group scored less on the aggression scale
tional music intervention. than the control group (mean difference = −12.867, standard
The Mauchly test for TRAB [x2 (2) = .845, P = .008] and error = 0.649, P < .001) as measured by TRAB. Based on
SRAS [x2 (2) = .694, P = .000] was violated since the P values time, there was a mean difference between pretest score and
were significant for both datasets (TRAB and SRAS). Therefore, posttest score as measured by TRAB (mean difference = 19.23,
this test suggests that researchers should utilize Greenhouse– standard error = 0.62, P < .001), and pretest and follow-up
Geisser correction for data interpretation which is an alternative. (mean difference = 25.500, standard error = 0.62, P < .001).
Figure 2 shows the homogeneity of the regression slopes of Furthermore, the posttest score was compared to the follow-up
the dataset of SRAS. The dataset of SRAS used in this figure test (mean difference = 6.26, standard error = 0.62, P < .001)
comprises of posttest score (SRAS) and follow-up score (SRAS). and there was a significant difference in mean scores (see
The regression slopes of the control and music educator lines Table 3).
indicate similar orientation. This means that they exhibited a Table 4 depicts that the pretest scores were similar between
similar upward slope, hence, the assumption of homogeneity the music intervention and control, (M = 23.800, SD = 3.56) for
of the slope is not violated. Therefore, there is no interaction the music control group and (M = 23.73, SD = 2.37) for those
between the covariate and the treatment. Figure 3 shows the in the control group as measured by the SRAS instrument. At
homogeneity of regression slopes in the dataset of TRAB. The posttest, there was a difference between the 2 groups, music
dataset of SRAS used in this figure comprises of posttest score (M = 10.26, SD = 3.05) and control (M = 14.93, SD = 3.42)
(TRAB) and follow-up score (TRAB). The regression slopes of indicating that there was more decline in aggressive behavior
the control and music educator lines indicate different orienta- scores of college students exposed to music intervention. The
tions. This means that they exhibited different upward slopes, follow-up scores also showed that there was a continued mean
hence, the assumption of homogeneity of the slope is violated. decline in aggression score of college students exposed to music
Therefore, there is an interaction between the covariate and the intervention music (M = 7.33, SD = 2.30) compared to control
treatment. This is common especially when the dependent vari- (M = 15.900, SD = 2.18).
able score is expected to decline due to treatment conditions. Since the sphericity assumption was violated by Mauchly
Table 1 shows that pretest TRAB scores were similar test (x2 [2] = .694, P = .000), researchers used the Greenhouse–
between the music intervention and control, music interven- Geisser correction for data interpretation. There were statis-
tion (M = 52.467, SD = 4.904), and those in the control group tically significant effects of time on TRAB scores of college
(M = 52.00, SD = 3.29). At the posttest, there was a differ- students’ aggressive behavior (F [2, 58] = 313.29, P < .001,
ence between the 2 groups, music (M = 26.36, SD = 3.75) ηp2 = 0.66). Based on intervention, there was a significant dif-
and control (M = 39.63, SD = 2.78) indicating that there was ference in the aggressive behavior score between the control
more decline in aggressive behavior scores of college stu- and music intervention groups (F [1, 59] = 109.11; P < .001,
dents exposed to music intervention. The follow-up test also ηp2 = .0.102). Furthermore, the results revealed a significant
showed that there was a continued mean decline in aggression
score of college students exposed to music intervention music
Figure 2. Homogeneity of regression slope of SRAS dataset. SRAS = self- Figure 3. Homogeneity of regression slope of TRAB dataset. TRAB = teach-
rated aggression scale. er-rating of students’ aggressive behaviors.
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Table 1 4. Discussion
Descriptive statistics based on TRAB instrument. The objective of this study is to find out whether educa-
tional music intervention impacts college students’ aggressive
Times Intervention Mean SD N
behavior. According to the findings, there was a significant
Pretest Control 52.000 3.259 30 decrease in aggressive behavior in the music intervention
Music 52.467 4.904 30 group when compared to the control group. The results of
Posttest Control 39.633 2.785 30 the follow-up indicate that the music intervention effect on
Music 26.367 3.755 30 students’ aggressive behavior was maintained. Therefore, we
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Follow-up Control 39.633 2.785 30 believe that educational music interventions should be pri-
Music 13.833 4.557 30 oritized for the treatment of aggression in college students.
TRAB = teacher-rating of students’ aggressive behaviours.
The findings are consistent with previous researchers,[36]
who found that music interventions outperformed non-mu-
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Table 4
Descriptive statistics based on SRAS instrument.
Times Intervention Mean SD N
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