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Author: Cordes, Sara
Resulting in 2 citations.
1. Young, Laura N.
Cordes, Sara
Winner, Ellen
Arts Involvement Predicts Academic Achievement Only When the Child Has a Musical Instrument
Educational Psychology 34,7 (2014): 849-861.
Also: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01443410.2013.785477
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Group
Keyword(s): Academic Development; Achievement; Activities, After School; Child Self-Administered Supplement (CSAS); Children, Poverty; Family Influences; Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading)

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

We examined the associations between academic achievement and arts involvement (access to a musical instrument for the child at home, participation in unspecified after-school arts activities) in a sample of 2339 11-12-year-olds surveyed in the USA between 1998 and 2008. We compared the contributions of these variables to other kinds of cognitive stimulation at home (e.g. books), participation in after-school sports, and socioeconomic factors. Involvement in after-school arts was positively related to academic achievement only for those children who also reported access to a musical instrument. Access to a musical instrument predicted academic achievement independently of socioeconomic status. We consider the possibilities that the results may be indicative of differing parental attitudes in homes with musical instruments and/or a causal link between instrumental music learning and academic achievement.
Bibliography Citation
Young, Laura N., Sara Cordes and Ellen Winner. "Arts Involvement Predicts Academic Achievement Only When the Child Has a Musical Instrument." Educational Psychology 34,7 (2014): 849-861.
2. Young, Laura N.
Winner, Ellen
Cordes, Sara
Heightened Incidence of Depressive Symptoms in Adolescents Involved in the Arts
Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts 7,2 (May 2013): 197-202.
Also: http://psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/2012-30260-001/
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79 Young Adult
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Keyword(s): Activities, After School; Adolescent Behavior; CESD (Depression Scale); Depression (see also CESD); Digit Span (also see Memory for Digit Span - WISC); Memory for Digit Span (WISC) - also see Digit Span; Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT)

Studies have shown a higher than average incidence of mental illness in adult artists. We asked whether an association between symptoms of affective disorders and the arts is found as early as adolescence, using a sample of 2,482 15- to 16-year-old adolescents. Teens involved in afterschool arts had higher depressive symptom scores than those not involved, and the association between arts involvement and depressive symptoms held only for those scoring above the median in working memory test scores. We consider reasons for these findings, including the possibility that shared cognitive vulnerabilities may underlie both the depressive symptoms and increased arts practice, and that cognitive resources (working memory) facilitate the adaptive use of these vulnerabilities.
Bibliography Citation
Young, Laura N., Ellen Winner and Sara Cordes. "Heightened Incidence of Depressive Symptoms in Adolescents Involved in the Arts." Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts 7,2 (May 2013): 197-202.