Effects of multicultural piano education on children's psychosocial wellbeing: the roles of cross-cultural musical competence and cultural identity

Abstract

Introduction Children's psychosocial wellbeing is closely linked to emotional regulation, social competence, self-esteem, resilience, and cultural identity. Traditional piano instruction commonly prioritizes technical skills and Western classical repertoire, leaving its psychological and cross-cultural potential underexplored. This study examined whether a structured multicultural piano education programme could enhance psychosocial wellbeing in children aged 6–12 and whether cross-cultural musical competence and cultural identity mediated these effects. Methods A 12-week stratified controlled intervention included 320 children, allocated to a multicultural piano education group ( n = 160) or a conventional piano education group ( n = 160). The experimental group received two 90-min instructor-led classes per week plus approximately 30 min of daily practice, integrating Chinese ethnic and traditional piano works with music from Southeast Asia, Europe, Africa, and Latin America. Assessments were conducted at baseline (T0), week 6 (T1), post-intervention at week 12 (T2), and a 3-month follow-up (T3). Outcomes included emotion regulation, SCARED anxiety, social competence, loneliness, self-esteem, psychological resilience, heart rate variability, cross-cultural musical competence, and cultural identity. Repeated-measures analyses, structural equation modeling, and bootstrap mediation analyses were performed. Results Compared with conventional piano education, multicultural piano education produced more favorable changes in emotion regulation, anxiety, social competence, loneliness, self-esteem, psychological resilience, and heart rate variability. It also improved cross-cultural musical competence and cultural identity. Mediation analyses indicated that changes in cross-cultural musical competence and cultural identity partially accounted for the association between the intervention and the model-level psychosocial outcome construct. Discussion Multicultural piano education may provide a practical educational approach that integrates aesthetic learning, intercultural awareness, and psychosocial development in children. The findings support the value of embedding culturally diverse musical content and structured cross-cultural learning activities within piano education.

The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Frontiers in Psychology, 2026 · DOI ↗