The role of music in the development of children with Down syndrome: a systematic review

ABSTRACT

Music is commonly used in special education to achieve developmental and therapeutic aims, often in people with special needs. The present article conducts a systematic review of results from previous studies that explore the role of music in the development of children with Down syndrome (DS). It analyses a sample of 19 articles, in English and Spanish, from several databases (ERIC, Scopus, SciELO, Dialnet, Web of Science, CSIC and Pubmed). The results show that music has positive effects in the treatment and progress of the four main areas of development (social-emotional, motor, cognitive and communication) in children with DS. Nevertheless, the review reveals a lack of detail in the methodologies used and in the specific development areas, which call for further clarification in future research. These aspects are discussed in order to gain more conclusive results from future studies.

KEYWORDS:

• Music therapy
• music education
• special education
• social development
• language development
• Down syndrome

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes on contributors

Gemma Moreno-García graduated in Primary School Musical Education from the University of Valencia. She also studied at Joaquin Rodrigo Music Conservatory of Valencia, where she graduated in Flute Performance. She holds a Masters in Music Management from the European University Miguel de Cervantes and a Masters holds a in Musical Investigation from the Valencia International University. Nowadays she is a primary school teacher and is writing her doctoral thesis at the University of Valencia in the Specific Didactics’ Doctoral Programme specialising in Music Education research. Her scientific interests are focused on the study of music in the development of children with special needs as well as in the study of tools to improve music learning through musical hearing in primary education.

Dr Pablo Monteagudo-Chiner PhD in Physical Activity and Sport from the University of Valencia and is member of the ‘UIRFIDE’ research group. His scientific interests are focused on the study of sedentary behaviours in the elderly the effects of inspiratory muscle training in elderly, as well as in the study of quantifying performance impairment in young soccer professionals.

Dr Alberto Cabedo-Mas is Associate Professor of Music Education at the University Jaume I of Castellón, Spain. He studied music, with a speciality in violin, at the Music Conservatory in Castellón and got a Master’s degree in Music at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, in Tallinn, Estonia, and a Master’s degree in Peace Studies, Conflict and Development at the University Jaume I of Castellón, Spain. He obtained his Ph.D. at this University. He is author of several publications in international and national books and refereed journals. He is co-director of the journal Eufonía: Didáctica de la Música, and serves as editorial board member in several national and international academic journals. His research interests include music education, musical heritage, coexistence, interculturality and the transmission of music across cultures.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Universitat Jaume I of Castelló, under the research project UJI-A2017-11 and by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion (ES)), under the research project EDU2017-86311-P.