Effects of Community African Drumming on Generalised Anxiety in Teenagers – David Akombo

Τεύχος 5 (1) 2013 – Article

Full text [PDF]

Effects of Community African Drumming on Generalised Anxiety in Teenagers

David Akombo

(pp.25-33)

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to test the effects of community music projects (CMPs), such as after-school African drumming circles, on academic performance and generalised anxiety in adolescents. Adolescents from a Junior High (7th, 8th, and 9th graders, age range from 12-14) in the State of Utah (USA) participated in the study. A one-sample t-test found a significant difference in reading scores (df(4) p=.004). A paired samples t-test found a significant relationship between the maths trait anxiety score pre-intervention and the total state anxiety score pre-test (df(4) p=.033). A paired samples t-test found a significant relationship between the reading trait anxiety score post-intervention and the total state anxiety score post-test (df(4) p=.030). This research demonstrates the effectiveness of community music such as drumming for reducing anxiety and also for improving academic performance in adolescents. CMPs are recommended as a non-invasive intervention modality for adolescents.

Keywords

African drumming; anxiety; academic performance; community music projects (CMPs)

Biography

Dr David O. Akombo is currently Director of Music Education, Assistant Professor of Music and Associate Graduate Faculty at Jackson State University in Mississippi (Mississippi, USA) where he teaches undergraduate and coordinates Graduate Studies program in Music Education. Dr Akombo’s extensive training includes a Bachelor of Education (B.ED.) degree from Kenyatta University in Kenya. He obtained a Master of Arts (M.A.) degree from Point Loma N. University in California, USA, a Master of Music in Ethnomusicology (M.Mus.) from Bowling Green State University in Ohio, USA, and a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree in Music Education from The University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, USA. He has authored several articles, two books: Music and Healing across Cultures (2006), and Music and Medicine: Connections Found (2009), and presented at regional, national, and international conferences. Dr Akombo is a Co-Founder of the Interdisciplinary Society for Quantitative Research in Music and Medicine (ISQRMM) and Editor of its peer-reviewed Proceedings publications.

Email: dakombo@hotmail.com