This study was carried out to examine the impact of music therapy programs
revolving around instrumental ensembles on the peer relationship skills of children
attending a local children's center. The research was done on the children of a
children's center located in D Gu in Daejeon City. The research methods are as
follows. 14 children who scored below 60 on a peer relationship skills scale were
selected first, and 7 of whom were placed in an experimental group, and the
remaining 7 were assigned to a control group. A music therapy program of this
study was conducted 3times a week, lasting 50 minutes per session, totalling 12
times. A pre-test and post-test were conducted using a peer relationship skills
scale and a revised social skills rating scale(for teachers). To examine the impact
of the music therapy program, the Mann-Whitney U test and Wilcoxon's signedrank
test were used to analyze the collected data. The research finding is as
follows. The experimental group, where a music therapy program revolving
around instrumental ensembles was conducted, showed higher scores on the peer
relationship skills scale and social skills rating scale than the control group
without the program, showing statistically significant differences. Such finding
demonstrates that music therapy programs revolving around instrumental
ensembles have a positive impact on improving the peer relationship skills of local
children's center children. The finding also demonstrates the effectiveness of the
programs as a psychological support tool for improving social skills.