29:T54b,

Music can promote emotion regulation in individuals exposed to trauma and stress and may support positive parenting behaviors. The primary aim of the current study was to examine the use of music in the lives of a sample of expectant mothers and fathers (N = 102), who were considered at risk for insensitive parenting due to exposure to environmental and psychosocial stressors. Interviews probed childhood memories of music, current engagement with music, and parental plans to share music with their infants after birth. Using principles of grounded theory, a thematic coding process was employed. Findings highlight the relationship-salient and culturally embedded nature of music in the lives of these parents. Parents described the intergenerational transmission of musical family traditions. They recalled memories of music, which were linked in important ways to the central caregivers in their own early lives and described their intentions to use music in similar ways when caring for their own children. Parents also described the fundamental integration of music within their communities and culture. Findings suggest that promoting parental use of music to soothe and care for their children may be one cost-effective intervention technique that supports feelings of parental competence and parent–infant connection.

2a:T472,

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a short-term preschool music program with creativity, bimanual gross motor training, and vocal development on preschool children’s inhibition. Inhibition is the key factor in preschool children’s executive functions development between 3–5 years. Thirty-six preschool children were randomly assigned to music or Lego training, a comparable control task. We administered neuropsychological measures pre- and post-training. Results of a repeated measures ANOVA on the Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFFT), a task requiring inhibition and visual discrimination, indicated a significant time by group interaction, with fewer errors committed post-training by the music group compared to controls. However, only a main effect of time was found for the second inhibition task, the Day/Night Stroop Task, a task requiring inhibition of a dominant verbal response. Music training in early childhood that includes an emphasis on bimanual coordination in gross motor movements may contribute to enhanced inhibition performance on complex tasks.

2b:T571,