What is the role of music in a teenager’s life, especially in helping them combat stress and improve performance?

by

by : 
Rhea J.

Summary

The current teen mental health crisis has reached the point where teen stress levels reportedly exceed that of adults. Significant research has proven the rehabilitating effect of music on people of various age groups, from enhancing cognitive abilities in babies to helping with mental disorders such as Alzheimer’s and depression in the elderly. However, there is a significant gap in the research studying the effect of music in helping teenagers deal with the growing mental health crisis. As one of the biggest music consumers, teens’ everyday exposure to music could be one of the many ways to combat the growing teen mental health crisis. This research project will test how exposure to music affects one’s ability to play stress-inducing games such as Bop It and Cooking Madness through three groups: students singing in a choir, students not taking a music elective listening to music, and a control group with no interaction with music.The findings will be shared with adults and educators to design programs to increase music exposure in schools and other venues.