Randomized Trial of the Effects of Musical Training on Child Development in the Venezuela Orchestra Program (El Sistema)

NCT02369315 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: IDB-2014-VE-1
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 2,914
• Locations: 0 countries
• Sites: N/A

Brief Summary

This study evaluates Venezuela's National System of Child and Youth Orchestras, better known as "El Sistema".

Conditions

Child Development

Keywords

child development; music training; self-regulation; exposure to violence

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (4)

• Child self-regulatory skills

  self-reported 10 item self-control scale; response inhibition (Go/no-go), attention functioning (Flanker), and planning skills (Tower of London)

  1 year (baseline 2012 to followup 2013)

• Child Behaviors

  prosocial behavior (SDQ Strengths subscale), difficulties (SDQ Difficulties subscale), risk-taking (risky driving game), and aggression (aggressive behavior and propensity scales)

  1 year (baseline 2012-followup 2013)

• Child Prosocial Skills and Connections

  child self-esteem (Rosenberg scale), empathy (Bryant scale), and school and family engagement (BERS-2 subscales)

  1 year

• Child Cognitive Skills

  working memory (digit recall), processing speed (symbol search), and visual-spatial reasoning (Raven)

  1 year (baseline 2012-followup 2013)

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Guardian Collective Efficacy

  1 year (baseline 2012-followup 2013)

Study Arms (2)

Treatment (Invited entry 2012)

EXPERIMENTAL

Children offered entry to music program in September 2012

Behavioral: Treatment (Invited entry 2012)

Control (Invited entry 2013)

EXPERIMENTAL

Children offered entry to music program delayed until September 2013

Behavioral: Control (Invited entry 2013)

Interventions

Treatment (Invited entry 2012) BEHAVIORAL

Entry to music program offered in September 2012

Treatment (Invited entry 2012)

Control (Invited entry 2013) BEHAVIORAL

Entry to music program offered in September 2013

Control (Invited entry 2013)

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 6 Years - 14 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)

You may qualify if:

• Excess demand in 5 geographic areas: 24 music centers across the 5 states were identified as the experimental sites based on the likelihood of having excess demand by families in the 2012-13 academic year.
• Apply protocol: Experimental sites agreed to accept written applications from guardians between May 7 and July 8, 2012 (without informing guardians of admission decisions until after randomization). Directors consented to participate in the experiment and received training in the experimental protocol. Children were eligible to apply if they would be 6 to 14 years old on September 1, 2012. Sites received applications from 2,603 guardians on behalf of 2,999 children.

You may not qualify if:

• Music center level: Two sites were excluded because their directors declined to follow the experimental protocol, and six were excluded because of insufficient demand to carry out randomized experiment.
• Child/guardian level: By prior agreement, each site director could award early admission to a small number of applicants (no more than 5% of positions). In eight sites, 85 children (of 74 guardians) were excluded from the study because they entered through these positions allotted to site directors. Children were also lost from study if parental consent and child assent not given.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Inter-American Development Bank: lead

Related Publications (1)

• Aleman X, Duryea S, Guerra NG, McEwan PJ, Munoz R, Stampini M, Williamson AA. The Effects of Musical Training on Child Development: a Randomized Trial of El Sistema in Venezuela. Prev Sci. 2017 Oct;18(7):865-878. doi: 10.1007/s11121-016-0727-3.

  PMID: 27896644 RESULT

Related Links

• The Effects of Musical Training on Child Development: a Randomized Trial of El Sistema in Venezuela

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Self-Control

Interventions

Therapeutics

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Social Behavior; Behavior

Study Officials

• Suzanne Duryea, Ph.D.

  Inter-American Development Bank

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Patrick McEwan, Ph.D.

  Wellesley College

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Nancy Guerra, Ph.D.

  University of Delaware

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Marco Stampini, Ph.D.

  Inter-American Development Bank

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: February 16, 2015
• First Posted: February 23, 2015
• Study Start: February 1, 2012
• Primary Completion: December 1, 2016
• Study Completion: December 1, 2016
• Last Updated: December 8, 2016

Record last verified: 2016-12

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share