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date: 25 February 2021

Abstract and Keywords

International research has broadly reported positive effects of singing on health. Choral singing, a social activity, can contribute to health and social and emotional well-being through enhancing individual and social variables, such as a sense of motivation, personal worth, concentration, and social engagement. This cross-sectional study aimed to establish a quantitative model to explain how multiple attributes of choral singing interact to impact on different dimensions of health and well-being. Using data from an Australian subsample within a multinational project, the results, from a series of stepwise hierarchical regression models, showed that choral singing benefited the choir members’ physical and psychological health and well-being through social engagement and a sense of positive identity. Choral singing also impacted social health and well-being positively by promoting feelings of excitement and importance to life, as well as longer duration of involvement in the choir. This study will contribute to developing targeted group singing or social activities to promote continued physical, psychological, and social health.

Keywords: group singing, quality of life, health and well-being, choirs, Australia

Patricia Lee

Patricia Lee is a senior lecturer in the School of Medicine, Griffith University, and a member of Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Australia. She has over ten years of teaching and working experience in public health and biostatistics and has been involved in many international and Australian local research projects. Her research interests include health promotion (specialized in workplace and mental health promotion), epidemiology, health risk modelling, risk analysis, and chronic disease prevention.

Donald Stewart

Donald Stewart is a professor of Health Promotion in the School of Medicine, Griffith University, former Head of the School of Public Health, and a member of Menzies Health Institute, Queensland, Australia. He is the Convenor of the ‘Music Health and Well-being’ focus area of the Queensland Conservatorium Research Centre and has research interests in singing and chronic and persistent pain, mental and emotional health, and people with Parkinsons. He was the chief investigator for the Australian component of the multinational project on which this chapter is based.

Stephen Clift

Stephen Clift is a professor of Health Education in the Faculty of Health and Wellbeing, Canterbury Christ Church University, United Kingdom. He is also director of the Sidney De Haan Research Centre for Arts and Health and has lead a research programme on singing, wellbeing and health over the last ten years. He has worked closely with the Royal Society for Public Health in the UK to promote the field of arts and health nationally, and is currently chair of the RSPH Special Interest Group for Arts, Health and Wellbeing.

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