The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of music therapy intervention on premature infants’ and full term infants’ developmental responses and parents’ responsiveness. Subjects (n=56) were parent-infant dyads who attended developmental music groups or a control condition assessing responsiveness during toy play. Infants were between the ages of 6 and 24 months and included males and females. All subjects were matched according to developmental age using the Ages & Stages Questionnaire (Bricker, et al., 1999). Subjects were also matched by group for socioeconomic status using the Barratt Simplified Measure of Social Status (Barratt, 2006), and for maternal depression using the Beck Depression Inventory-II (Beck, Steer, & Brown, 1996).

Types of infant play and parent responsiveness were measured using observation of a standardized toy play for parent-infant dyads. Observations were coded with the number of seconds spent in each behavior using the SCRIBE observation program. Parents completed a questionnaire on the perception of their infant’s general development, interpretations of their child’s needs, the purpose of using music with their child, and their child’s response to music.

The infants attending the developmental music groups with their parents demonstrated significantly more social toy play (p < .05) during the standardized parent-infant toy play than infants who did not attend the music groups. While not significant, graphic analysis of parent responsiveness showed parents who attended the developmental music groups engaged in more positive and less negative play behaviors with their infants than parents who did not attend the music groups. No group differences were found on any questionnaire areas of parent perception of their child’s development, needs, or responses to music. Additionally, no significant differences were found between groups for the amount of time spent by children in toy play.

This study demonstrates the first findings of positive effects of developmental music groups on social behaviors for both premature and full term infants under two years old. These findings support the need for further investigation with both premature and full term infants from various socioeconomic backgrounds into the positive effects of social music therapy early interventions utilizing peer modeling and parent training for developmental milestone achievement.