Family-based music therapy: Fostering child resilience and promoting parental self-efficacy through shared musical experiences

This study was designed to investigate family-based music therapy as a prevention strategy, targeting parental self-efficacy and competence while promoting adaptive child outcomes. Resilience describes the capacity to thrive in the face of stressors to adaptation. Self-efficacy refers to mental schemas parents hold about their parenting skills. The basic premise for the effectiveness of music therapy intervention for families in this study was that, by supporting and enhancing positive mutual interactions between parent and child, families could rehearse adaptive ways of relating and connecting with each other.;A Collective Case Study informed by Grounded Theory approach, was the methodological framework for the study. The participants in the study were members of four families facing multiple stressors to adaptation. The overarching common risk factor was self-reported history of maternal depression. Child participants targeted in this study, ranging from 3 to 5 years of age, did not have a diagnosed mental, emotional or behavioral disorder. Sessions took place over an 8-week period, once per week for 30 to 60 minutes. Three participating families received music therapy in their home environment. Due to scheduling difficulties, one family received music therapy at a university-affiliated clinic. All music therapy sessions were digitally recorded and reviewed to create field notes and analytic memos. Additional data sources included parent interviews and weekly parent journals.;The analysis and interpretation of the sessions involved an inductive analysis leading to identifying emerging clinical themes for each participating family. It revealed varying needs among the four participating families and documented actions and interactions that occurred during the sessions. The analysis also elucidated how music therapy may fit family needs, strengths, or capacities. A deductive cross-case analysis, using Mutually Responsive Orientation [MRO] theory as a conceptualizing framework indicated that therapeutic applications of music therapy created a context in which bidirectional responsiveness could be fostered. This study demonstrated the possible pathways through which music therapy may assist development of MRO within parent-child dyads.;Based on the findings of the study, several suggestions are made for music therapists working with families in treatment and prevention. These suggestions describe supporting and encouraging the parent to be playful and creative in a child-like manner, identifying the importance of being explicit about the therapeutic viability of presented music therapy tasks, and documenting the 'slippery-slope' challenges of therapeutic discourse with families.