Research
In Spring 2007, UCLArts and
Healing conducted a pilot study of a social and emotional skill building
program delivered in a framework of drumming, that it co-developed with a licensed clinical social worker and a
professional drumming facilitator. The
research was conducted in collaboration with the UCLA Pediatric Pain Program, the
Los Angeles Unified School District,
and REMO, Inc.
The study compared two fifth
grade classrooms that received the drumming intervention with two that received
standard education only. The 101 study participants
were 97% socioeconomically disadvantaged and 91% Latino. Teachers completed a comprehensive,
standardized assessment instrument for each student (113-item Teacher's Report
Form) which showed that the intervention group improved significantly in such
areas as inattention, withdrawn/depression, post-traumatic stress, anxiety, attention
deficit/hyperactivity, oppositional defiance, sluggish cognitive tempo, and internalizing and externalizing problems in general.
The findings of this
research have been presented at the American
Public Health Association annual meeting on October 28, 2008; the Los Angeles Unified School District Best Practices Fair on February 9, 2009; the National School Boards Association annual conference on April 4, 2009; the North American Research Conference on Complementary and Integrative Medicine on May 13, 2009; and will be presented at the American Music Therapy Association on November 13, 2009. The results of the study have been submitted for publication.