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Crossing classroom boundaries: school-based music participation and cross-domain learning development in adolescence

Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Background: In education systems where curriculum time is limited and core academic subjects are strongly prioritized, a key question is whether music participation merely entails opportunity costs in instructional time or is also associated with learning and psychological resources that can be mobilized across disciplinary contexts. Objective: This study examined whether school-based music participation is associated with domain-general learning engagement and adolescent learning development in a core academic subject; given mathematics' cognitive demands and salient evaluative and emotional processes, mathematics was selected as a representative domain. Methods: = 6,454; 5,914 with valid music-participation data), survey-weighted models incorporated replicate weights and mathematics plausible values and tested indirect and conditional pathways involving mathematics self-efficacy, anxiety, teacher support, disciplinary climate, and achievement. Results: < 0.001), whereas the overall mathematics-anxiety pathway was nonsignificant. Exploratory analyses suggested that MATHPERS may serve as a behavioral bridge. Teacher-support moderation was concentrated in mathematics anxiety, but neither classroom condition altered the overall cross-domain indirect association. Conclusion: School-based music participation was associated with multidimensional resources relevant to adolescent learning development, supporting a resource-formation and domain-specific recontextualization account and suggesting that music education should be evaluated not only by direct achievement transfer but also by its broader contribution to learning resources across subjects.
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1975580
Language: English
Subfield: Music
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,801
OpenAlex ID: W7220847944
FWCI:
Cites: 46
Cited by:
Related to: 10