Dance along to both you and your child's favorite songs.
Quality time with your kids is hard to come by, but any moment, no matter how small, can be a chance to improve and solidify that parent-child bond. According to a new study from the University of Arizona, it can be as simple as listening to music together. Breakfast, morning drives to school, long road trips—take advantage of it all, and turn on the tunes whenever you can.
The study was conducted by University of Arizona undergraduate student and lead author Sandi Wallace, along with head of the Department of Communication, Jake Harwood. It found that young adults who shared musical experiences with their parents during childhood reported having better relationships with them in their twenties.
The researchers questioned a group of adults, averaging 21 years old, on the amount of times music played a part in the relationship with their parents. This could include listening to music, playing instruments or attending concerts. Participants who had more of these moments also had a more positive perception of their parent-child relationship.
Wallace and Harwood determined that emotion and coordination could better justify the connection between music and relationship quality.
“A lot of recent research has focused on how emotions can be evoked through music, and how that can perpetuate empathy and empathic responses toward your listening partner," Wallace said in a press release.
Harwood also suggests that listening to music has the capability to get parents and children more in sync with each other.
“If you play music with your parent or listen to music with your parents, you might do synchronized activities like dancing or singing together,” he says. “And data shows that causes you to like one another more.”
Participants were asked to report on any memories between the ages of 8 and 13 and ages 14 and older, and the data suggested that music had the strongest influence during the teenage years. Some car-time karaoke could be the key to breaking down that impenetrable wall teens tend to put up.
"It's not to say that this is going to be the prescription for a perfect relationship," says Wallace. "But any parent wants to find ways to improve their relationship with their child and make sure that it's maintained long term, and this may be one way it can be done."
So sing in the car, dance in the kitchen, or heck, carry a speaker with you while walking your child to school! Some tunes here and there could ensure that loving and lasting relationship every parent hopes for.