Middle Eastern Journal of Disability Studies

Abstract
Background & Objectives: Orphans and abandoned children are the result of a lack of effective parent–child relationships, which include a wide range of children in daycare centers, homeless children, single–parent children, and families incapable of effective parenting. Living without a family and lacking family interactions in the long term exposes these children to identity problems and challenges, personal and social communication skills, feelings of hopelessness, and a reduced quality of life. The prevalence of behavioral and mental disorders is higher among children who lack family existence or are placed in quasi–family centers due to various reasons, such as natural disasters, economic hardship, and parental addiction. Executive function components such as inhibitory control, working memory, planning, and organization are low in these children, and they have problems in the prefrontal region. One effective approach to addressing neurological problems and enhancing personal and interpersonal communication among children living in quasi–families is strengthening executive functions. This study aimed to investigate the impact of neurocognitive music therapy intervention on the executive actions of abused and neglected children aged 7 to 12 years in Tehran City, Iran.
Methods: The study method was experimental with a pretest–posttest follow–up period design with a control group. The study population consisted of 32 students aged 7 to 12, who were qualified volunteers from two care centers for orphaned girls and boys in Tehran in 2023. Participants were selected using a convenience sampling method and then randomly assigned to either the experimental or the control group. The inclusion criteria for the study subjects were as follows: being orphans or abandoned, having been at the center for at least 3 years, and being between 7 and 12 years old. The exclusion criteria for the subjects from the study included the presence of psychological disorders such as depression, not participating in other music interventions, and not participating regularly in educational classes. To assess executive function, the computerized Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (Barg, 1948) subscales of residual errors and correct responses were used. The music therapy intervention was based on Michael Thaut’s (2005) executive action training, developed in collaboration with a music expert. The program consisted of 20 music sessions, held twice a week for 45 minutes each, over 3 months at a child care center; while the control group received no training. In this study, descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) were used to describe the data, and an independent t test, repeated measures analysis of variance, and Bonferroni post hoc test at a significance level of 0.05 were used to analyze the data using SPSS version 25 software.
Results: The results showed that the group (p<0.001) and time effect (p<0.001) on the variable of correct responses were significant; also, in the variable of residual errors, the group (p=0.002) and time effect (p<0.001) were significant. Also, in the experimental group, in the residual error’s subscale between the adjusted means of pretest and posttest (p=0.006) and pretest and follow–up (p<0.001), and in the subscale of correct responses between the adjusted means of pretest and posttest (p<0.001) and pretest and follow–up (p<0.001) were significant differences. However, there was no significant difference between the adjusted posttest means with follow–up of the subscales of residual errors (p=0.069) and correct responses (p=0.287).
Conclusion: The study findings indicate that neurological music intervention significantly impacts executive function. This effective intervention can be implemented in care centers for underprivileged and orphaned children.