Adolescence is a crucial period for emotional development and life skill acquisition, making music
therapy a potential avenue for fostering psychosocial competence and well-being. The research
aimed to assess whether participation in music therapy could lead to improvements in social skills,
coping skills, and survival skills among students aged 13 to 16 years. The study was conducted in
a CBSE school in Puducherry and involved 60 randomly selected students from grades 8th, 9th,
and 11th, forming both control and experimental groups. The experimental group received ten
consecutive music therapy sessions focusing on objectives to enhance self-awareness, empathy,
effective communication, interpersonal relationships, coping with emotions, and coping with
stress. Baseline evaluations were conducted using the Life Skills Assessment Scale (LSAS) and
the Adolescent Wellbeing Scale. Music therapy interventions included warm-up techniques, vocal
recreation, music collage, songwriting, and improvisation techniques. Pre and Post intervention tests exhibited changes in life skills and adolescent well-being. Quantitative analysis revealed that
the experimental group exhibited higher mean scores for total life skills before and after the
intervention, suggesting potential advantages in life skills development. Qualitative analysis
enriched comprehension of self-awareness, empathy, effective communication, coping with stress,
and emotions, closing gaps in understanding. Despite non-significance in quantitative results,
qualitative data indicated positive impact on these skills, highlighting subjective growth beyond
statistics. Moreover, music therapy positively impacted adolescent well-being, with the
experimental group experiencing greater improvements compared to the control group.
Keywords: Adolescence, life skills, music therapy, wellbeing, Life skills assessment scale
Publication date: 01/07/2024
https://ijbpas.com/pdf/2024/July/MS_IJBPAS_2024_8284.pdf
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https://doi.org/10.31032/IJBPAS/2024/13.7.8284
