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. 2016 Nov/Dec;26(6):518-533.
doi: 10.1002/casp.2278. Epub 2016 Jul 17.

Is group singing special? Health, well-being and social bonds in community-based adult education classes

Eiluned Pearce  1 , Jacques Launay  1 , Anna Machin  1 , Robin I M Dunbar  1
Affiliations

Is group singing special? Health, well-being and social bonds in community-based adult education classes

Eiluned Pearce et al. J Community Appl Soc Psychol. 2016 Nov/Dec.

Abstract

Evidence demonstrates that group singing improves health and well-being, but the precise mechanisms remain unknown. Given that cohesive social networks also positively influence health, we focus on the social aspects of singing, exploring whether improvements in health and well-being are mediated by stronger social bonds, both to the group as a whole (collective-bonding) and to individual classmates (relational-bonding). To do so, seven newly-formed community-based adult education classes (four singing, N=84, and three comparison classes studying creative writing or crafts, N=51) were followed over seven months. Self-report questionnaire data on mental and physical health, well-being, and social bonding were collected at Months 1, 3 and 7. We demonstrate that physical and mental health and satisfaction with life significantly improved over time in both conditions. Path analysis did not show any indirect effects via social bonding of Condition on health and well-being. However, higher collective-bonding at timepoint 3 significantly predicted increased flourishing, reduced anxiety and improved physical health independently of baseline levels. In contrast, relational-bonding showed no such effects, suggesting that it is feeling part of a group that particularly yields health and well-being benefits. Moreover, these results indicate that singing may not improve health and well-being more than other types of activities. Nonetheless, these findings encourage further work to refine our understanding of the social aspects of community-based adult education classes in promoting health, well-being and community cohesion.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Direct and indirect effects between Condition (Singing versus Non-singing adult education classes) and change in (A) Physical Health, (B) Anxiety/GAD7 and (C) Flourishing scores between timepoints 1 and 3, mediated by change in Inclusion of Other in Self (IOS: collective-bonding) score, and controlling for baseline (timepoint 1) measures, giving the relationship coefficients. Direct effects are partial relationships controlling for the other variables. Any significant associations are indicated as * p< 0.05 (two-tailed). Post-hoc analysis revealed that these three measures were significantly predicted by IOS at timepoint 3 independently of the corresponding baselines, as reflected in the significant direct relationship between change in IOS and the changes in Physical Health, GAD7 and Flourishing illustrated here.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Direct and indirect effects between (A) Physical Health, (B) Anxiety/logGAD7 and (C) Flourishing scores at timepoint 1 and timepoint 3, mediated by Inclusion of Other in Self (IOS: collective-bonding) score at timepoint 3 and controlling for baseline (timepoint 1) IOS, giving the relationship coefficients. Direct effects are partial relationships controlling for the other variables. Any significant associations are indicated as * p< 0.05, ** p<0.005, *** p<0.0001 (two-tailed). Note that MLM found a significant partial relationship between IOS at timepoint 3 and logGAD7 at timepoint 3 despite the non-significant direct relationship shown in (B) between these variables.
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