Continuous Music and Sports Training for Children

JC Project MuSE: Continuous Music and Sports Training for Primary School Children

The current study, JC Project MuSE, is a multi-year project aimed at initiating transformative changes in the lives of young learners in schools with a lower socio-economic background through the integration of music and sports education. The research project posits that engaging in structured music and sports programmes can lead to significant improvements in educational performance through the enhancement of executive functions. The research further explores the longitudinal effects of continuous music and sports training, examining the impact of these interventions on developing a greater sense of appreciation for these activities in these young learners. This research is a 3-year study that examines theoretical underpinnings, methodological approaches, and the impact of music and sports interventions to empower youth in schools of lower socio-economic background and promote holistic development through the synergistic effects of sports and music education.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Primary School Students
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Continuous Music Training (CMT); Other: Continuous Sport Training (CST); Other: Continuous Music and Sports Training (CMST)

Detailed Description

JC Project MuSE is a school-based music (Mu) and sports (S) education (E) programme, initiated and funded by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust. It offers free, high-quality and tailored music and sports programmes to primary school children in the most impoverished areas of Hong Kong. It aims to develop children's artistic and physical literacy and to enhance their positive whole-person development, emotional well-being and academic advancement, thereby endowing them with the best opportunities for future growth and development.

The overall research will study the impact of the sports and music interventions provided in Tier 2 of the project and aims to bring transformative changes to underprivileged children by enhancing their social, emotional and cognitive development through 3-year sports and music education. Primary outcomes include executive functioning, psychological well-being, social-emotional competence, and academic results (e.g., scores of major subjects and attendance record).

This study will adopt a parallel-group, 4-arm randomized controlled trial design. Upon assessing the eligibility of the participants, they will be randomized into four groups, including (1) continuous music training, (2) continuous sports training, (3) continuous music and sports training, and (4) treatment-as-usual control. Outcome measures will be assessed at six time-points (T0: Baseline, the start of the first school year; T1: the end of the first school year; T2: the start of the second school year; T3: the end of the second school year; T4: the start of the third school year; and T5: post-intervention, the end of the third school year) to assess the effects of continuous music and/or sports training on the students' psychological well-being, executive functioning, social-emotional competence, and academic performances.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 620
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Hong Kong
  • Hong Kong, Hong Kong
    • Hong Kong Baptist University
    • Contact: JC Project MuSE Research Team; Phone Number: 852-34112697; Email: jcprojects@hkbu.edu.hk
    • Principal Investigator: Johnny M L Poon

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Primary two to four students and their parents or guardians at local government schools or aided schools
• The school has 30% or more of their total student population receiving Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) and School Textbook Assistance
• Have provided informed consent indicating participation in the study

Exclusion Criteria:

• Presence of significant physical, psychological, and cognitive comorbidities that will hinder participation in research procedures and the designed interventions of continuous music or sports training.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

4

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Continuous Music Training (CMT)	Other: Continuous Music Training (CMT); Participants in this arm will receive regular music training throughout the study period.
Active Comparator: Continuous Sports Training (CST)	Other: Continuous Sport Training (CST); Participants in this arm will receive regular sports training throughout the study period.
Active Comparator: Continuous Music and Sports Training (CMST)	Other: Continuous Music and Sports Training (CMST); Participants in this arm will receive regular music and sports training throughout the study period.
No Intervention: Treatment-as-usual (TAU)

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change of Baseline Student's Psychological Well-being level across three school years	The World Health Organisation- Five Well-Being Index (WHO-5) will be used to assess the level of psychological well-being of students. The scale aggregates a raw score and will be multiplied by 4 to yield a percentage score. Higher scores represent a higher level of psychological well-being. The scale will be completed by students with assistance from research staff.	Baseline (Month 0), Month 9, Month 12, Month 21, Month 24, Month 33
Change of Baseline Students' Executive Functioning across three school years	The Childhood Executive Functioning Inventory (CHEXI) will be used to assess the level of executive functioning in students. The scale includes four subscales: inhibition, regulation, working memory, and planning. A total score can also be yielded. Higher scores represent a higher level of difficulty in executive functioning. The scale will be filled in by parents or guardians.	Baseline (Month 0), Month 9, Month 12, Month 21, Month 24, Month 33
Change of Baseline Students' Social-Emotional Competence across three school years	The Devereux Student Strengths Assessment mini Second Edition (DESSA 2 mini) will be used to assess the level of social-emotional competence in students. The DESSA 2 mini consists of four parallel forms, which will be used consecutively across assessment timepoints. The scale will yield a total score. High scores represent a higher level of social-emotional competence. The scale will be filled in by the school teachers of the students.	Baseline (Month 0), Month 9, Month 12, Month 21, Month 24, Month 33
Change of Baseline Students' Academic Performance across three school years	Annual school reports will be collected from the collaborative schools. At baseline, the annual school reports of the previous school year will be collected. The following details will be retrieved from the school report cards to keep tracking the academic performances of the student, scores of the subjects (e.g., Chinese, English, Mathematics, General Studies, Music, Physical Education) and students' behavioural indicators (e.g., conduct, punctuality, and attendance). Higher scores in core subjects indicate stronger academic performance. Higher scores in conduct, punctuality, and attendance reflect better behavioural performance.	Baseline (Month 0), Month 12, Month 24, Month 33

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Hong Kong Baptist University
• Collaborators: The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust; SF&OC Sports Legacy

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): September 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): August 31, 2029
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2029

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 6, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 10, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): March 13, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 13, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 10, 2026
• Last Verified: February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: REC/24-25/0141

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: The data of this study are available from the principal investigator upon reasonable request. The data are not publicly available because they involve personal and clinical data from primary school students.
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: 3 years after the completion of the study
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: The principal investigator will evaluate each request to determine if the data is accessible to other researchers.
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: STUDY_PROTOCOL; ICF

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No