Cultural context and instructional structure in children's music education: An RVE Meta-analysis of...

Despite neuroscientific evidence indicating that music training remodels brain structure, behavioral findings concerning its transfer effects on children's executive functions (EF) remain characterized by significant controversy and heterogeneity. To resolve this ambiguity, this study strictly adhered to PRISMA guidelines, conducting a comprehensive systematic search across three major databases (Scopus, Web of Science, and PsycINFO). We synthesized 29 empirical studies (N = 3265) from five continents using Robust Variance Estimation (RVE) to evaluate intervention effects and examine the potential moderating role of macro-cultural context and instructional organization. The analysis revealed a significant, medium-sized facilitative effect of music education on overall EF (g = 0.62). Among subdomains, working memory showed the most substantial benefit, and the preschool period (ages 3-6) was identified as a developmental stage showing larger EF-related gains. Notably, macro-level cultural context (Individualism vs. Collectivism) did not independently moderate outcomes, challenging prior assumptions of a collectivistic advantage. However, at the micro-level, a significant "Culture × Instructional Structure" interaction emerged for working memory, suggesting a possible context-dependent pattern: children in individualistic cultures benefited more from high-structured (skill-oriented) training, whereas those in collectivistic cultures gained significantly more from low-structured (experience-oriented) activities. These findings suggest that the effects of music education on children's EF may vary as a function of instructional organization and broader cultural-educational context. However, the culture × instructional-structure pattern should be interpreted as hypothesis-generating, given the uneven subgroup evidence, variation in control-condition strength, and coarse country-level cultural coding. Future research should test this pattern under stronger active-control designs and more developmentally appropriate EF measurement before translating it into broad instructional recommendations.