Longitudinal Effects of Continuous Music Training on Cognitive Development: Evidence From the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study

Abstract

Music training has been associated with the development of cognitive and language skills, yet large‐scale longitudinal studies exploring these relationships are still limited. Drawing on data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, we examined the long‐term associations between continuous music engagement and cognitive abilities, including the moderating role of neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation. We also applied classification models to distinguish musicians from non‐musicians on the basis of their performance on cognitive tasks. Our findings revealed that children who are consistently engaged in music training for 2 years scored higher on multiple cognitive and language‐based tasks, with greater gains in picture vocabulary over time compared to non‐musicians. Socioeconomic factors moderated these effects, with non‐musicians from high‐deprivation neighborhoods demonstrating smaller improvements in picture vocabulary than their low‐deprivation counterparts, whereas musicians across socioeconomic backgrounds exhibited similar improvements over time. Additionally, classification models identified a distinct profile in musicians, with cognitive performance serving as a key predictor of music engagement, distinguishing musicians from non‐musicians. These findings reinforce the role of music training in supporting cognitive and language development and highlight its potential as a cognitive enrichment tool, particularly for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.