Testing the Effects of Music on Short and Long Term Psychological Outcomes and Step Counts in Children

30+ students (5th-6th grade) from Clear Creek Christian School (CCCS) will be recruited to participate in the present study for the Spring of 2026. This group will participate in Hoosier Sport lessons that take place during their scheduled PE time at CCCS once a week for 8 weeks.

Hoosier Sport intervention components include sport participation and leadership development activities. Hoosier Sport is a part of Clear Creek Christian School's regular PE classes and is separate from this study procedure. Classes will be divided into classes with music (experimental group) and classes without music (control group) and will remain in these categories for the duration of the intervention. Students will be blinded to the purpose of this experiment to avoid performance bias and the expectation of music during classes in the control group. The Hoosier Sport curriculum will remain the same for both groups. In the classes with music, music will be played during drills and games and paused during instruction. The music will be upbeat, 120+ beats per minute, and school appropriate. The research team will incorporate students' music preferences where possible.

Once participants express interest in joining the study, the research team will set up a phone call to obtain consent and assent. There will be a survey for participants to take prior to the start of the intervention. Included in this survey are questions about basic demographics, music preferences, the physical activity section of the Global School Based Health Survey (GSHS) to determine active versus sedentary students, the Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale Short Version (PACES-S) to determine their enjoyment of physical activity, the enjoyment/interest subsection of the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) to determine levels of motivation to exercise, and the Commitment to Physical Activity Scale for Adolescents (CPASA) to determine commitment to exercise. Before and after each Hoosier Sport lesson, the children will complete the Feeling Scale, Felt Arousal Scale, and rate of perceived exertion (1 question each) to determine their current affect, activation levels, and effort. The students will complete the PACES-S, IMI Enjoyment/Interest subsection, and CPASA after week 4 and week 8 of the intervention. During each lesson, students will wear Yamax SW-200 pedometers to track their step counts, which will be returned at the end of each lesson.

Inclusion criteria

• Currently enrolled in 5th or 6th grade at Clear Creek Elementary
• have parental consent to participate
• agree to study participation (verbal assent)
• planning to attend all school days during the 8-week program period
• enrolled in PE for the semester

Exclusion criteria

• not already participating in Hoosier Sport/PE at Clear Creek Christian School