Music Therapy for ADHD: A Research Design

This assignment delves into the potential of music therapy as an alternative intervention for children diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). It proposes a research design employing a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) to investigate the impact of music intervention on cognitive strengths in children with ADHD. The research aims to compare the effectiveness of music therapy combined with medication against medication alone, assessing the participants' progress over a six-month period.

Running head: NURSING INTERVENTION
ROLE OF MUSIC IN THE TREATMENT OF ATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

1NURSING INTERVENTION
Introduction
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental mental
disorder that affects the attention paying ability of teens and kids around the world. The
symptoms of this disease generally appears after the age of twelve and it may result in decreased
performance in school, cognitive ability, impairment. However, according to some researchers,
distractions such as music and volume has enhancing effects on the cognitive development of the
children suffering from ADHD (Cahill et al., 2012). In this critical analysis, a research design to
answer the proposed research questions is going to be discussed. Relevancy of that with some
recent research literatures are going to be discussed.
Research question
The prime aim of the research is to find out the relationship between music and reduction
in the adverse effects of ADHD in children. The use of medication to treat the patients with
ADHD can lead to several negative effects as well. Children some time suffer with loss of
appetite, sleepless ness, mood swings, and headaches and so on. Therefore, the need for
interventions to treat the disorder with some effective ways other than medication has increased
(Zhang et al., 2012). This critical analysis proposed few research questions regarding ADHD and
such as-
 What is the role of music therapy in the treatment of ADHD?
 Which one is associated with lower level of impulsivity, rock or country music?
 What is the association music intervention with lower level of impulsivity on
ADHD?

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Further, a research design to find the answers to these research questions has been mentioned in
the next section of this analysis.
Research designs
To find the answers of the proposed research questions, a proper research design need to
be created. The research design that has been chosen for this research topic in quantitative
research study. Randomized Clinical Trial or RCT will be used for the research (Neff & Germer,
2013). The sampling, methodology and process are going to be discussed.
Sampling
The sampling method, that has been chosen for sample population is probability-
sampling technique. In this technique, every individual in the public bears a chance to be
selected as a member in the RCT study. Within this technique, a random selection process will
be carried out to select the children for trial group as well as the control group. The prime
advantage of this sampling technique is that, it represents the entire population due to its random
selection method.
Methodology
After the selection of the population for the randomized control trial, the members will be
divided into two groups, namely intervention group and the control group. Total 50 children will
be selected for the intervention research within which, 25 children will be a part of intervention
team, and other 25 will be a part of control team. The intervention team will go through the
music intervention. Few of them will listen to rock music whereas others will listen to country
music. The other group will not be a part of intervention and will continue the medication only.

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Process and timeline
The research process will be survey based and the participants will fill the survey
questionnaire thrice during the research. Firstly, before commencement of research so that the
initial cognitive and responsive ability of the population can be assessed. Secondly, in between
of the interventions. This will help to understand the short time effect of the intervention applied.
Finally, the third survey will be carried out while finishing the intervention. The survey will
contain some questions to assess the cognitive as well as attention paying ability. The timeframe
of the research will depend upon the sample population. The research will be carried out for 6
months and the surveys will be conducted in the first, fourth and sixth month of the intervention,
as per the rules of Randomized Control Trial (RCT). The flow diagram for the research design
has been mentioned in the appendix.
Relevancy to public health background of the research literature reviews
According to some recent research articles, they have also found the randomized control
trail or RCT useful for the experiment about music intervention. Cogo-Moreira et al. (2013) uses
RCT to find out the ability of music to increase cognitive development and attention paying
ability. 235 children were selected in that RCT method within which 114 were given the
intervention, and 121 children were participated as control for the study. The method to analyze
the intervention was according to the study. They used two different analysis techniques to
confirm the results. On the other hand, Mehr et al. (2013) also used the RCT to understand the
effect of music and art on the cognition ability of children. They selected 29 children of four-
year age for the intervention and another 29 for the control. They provided those children with
music classes of 45 minutes for four months. Simultaneously, they were tested for their numeric
and analytical abilities, and therefore they were able to collect the result on spot. These papers

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shows that RCT will be relevant and appropriate to find out the results of the proposed research
questions of this discussion.
Gaps found in the recent research
The first research done by Cogo-Moreira et al. (2013), used RCT technique to assess the
effect of music intervention in the cognitive development of children affected with ADHD.
However, it had few research gaps. Such as, some of the population children were learning music
from a younger age with school studies; therefore, the result was note solely because of the
music intervention. Some students were accustomed to such situation hence; the argument is not
properly justified. On the other hand, research by Mehr et al. (2013) also had few research gaps.
The first gap was providing students either arts or music class. This hinders the researchers to
compare the effect of intervention. Secondly, the statistical process they used for the evaluation
of the data was weak and unable to collect the exact data.
Conclusion
Globally around 4.6 million children between the ages of 4 to 17 have been reported of
having ADHD and are unable to perform, that is affecting their self-esteem. According to the
Australian Guideline on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (2009) reports, 6.8 percent of
children in Australia is suffering from ADHD and medication is showing adverse effect on them.
Therefore, need for an alternative intervention has forced researchers to see music as an
intervention to increase the cognitive strengths in kids. This analysis creates a research design
using RCT as a technique to answer the research questions that has been proposed.

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References
Cahill, B. S., Coolidge, F. L., Segal, D. L., Klebe, K. J., Marle, P. D., & Overmann, K. A.
(2012). Prevalence of ADHD and its subtypes in male and female adult prison
inmates. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 30(2), 154-166.
Cogo-Moreira, H., de Avila, C. R. B., Ploubidis, G. B., & de Jesus Mari, J. (2013). Effectiveness
of music education for the improvement of reading skills and academic achievement in
young poor readers: a pragmatic cluster-randomized, controlled clinical trial. PloS
one, 8(3), e59984.
Mehr, S. A., Schachner, A., Katz, R. C., & Spelke, E. S. (2013). Two randomized trials provide
no consistent evidence for nonmusical cognitive benefits of brief preschool music
enrichment. PloS one, 8(12), e82007.
Neff, K. D., & Germer, C. K. (2013). A pilot study and randomized controlled trial of the
mindful self‐compassion program. Journal of clinical psychology, 69(1), 28-44.
Zhang, F., Liu, K., An, P., You, C., Teng, L., & Liu, Q. (2012). Music therapy for attention
deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children and adolescents. The Cochrane
Library.

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Kids with ADHD are sampled using probability
sampling technique
Eligibility to music intervention is checked and
consent taken
Exclusion of kids who are
not eligible or consent issue
Randomized 50
children
25 selected for music intervention
with medication
25 were provided with
medication only
Assessed thrice, in the first, fourth
and sixth month
Assessed thrice, in the first, fourth
and sixth month
(Created by the author)
Appendix