Arts give students major lift - study

Young people who study arts at school are psychologically better off than those who do not, a new study from Victoria University shows.

Researcher Stephen Fox found the benefits of traditional arts, and especially participation in these, led to markedly higher wellbeing in those studied, as well as better positive connections to their families and communities.

Students who did any art be it music, dance or visual arts were statistically better off psychologically than those who did nothing.

But those who did kapa haka or were in Pasifika cultural groups had the highest sense of identity, connectedness and wellbeing of all groups.

Mr Fox did not expect the findings to come as a surprise to kapa haka and Pasifika group leaders interviewed in a previous study: they have seen this for years.

But he was not aware of statistical research into the subject.

He hoped it would help to provide leverage for the arts in policy making, and highlight the importance of setting aside time for arts in schools.

"It is too easy to say, 'Well, it's just arts, we can cut that budget.' The reality is that these are important activities for raising healthy, well-adapted members of society," he said.

While this particular study did not examine the wider effects of these students' happiness on their tendency to use drugs or alcohol, Mr Fox said he was aware of studies that did show that young people who participated in arts were less likely to be problematic in society.

Mr Fox will build on this research through his third study, which will examine the impact of arts participation across a wider variety of cultures.

Participation in the third study is still ongoing, and he says that anyone over 16 years of age who does an art traditional for their ethnic group is welcome to participate.

The address for the online survey is: www.victoria.ac.nz/cacr/research/fox.aspx