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Research in Human Development, 12: 288–294, 2015
Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 1542-7609 print / 1542-7617 online
DOI: 10.1080/15427609.2015.1068034
Research that Helps Move Us Closer to a World Where
Each Child Thrives
Adele Diamond
University of British Columbia
Schools are curtailing programs in arts, physical exercise, and play to devote more time and resources
to academic instruction. Yet doing that may impede academic success, rather than aid it. Correlational
and retrospective studies, personal accounts, case studies, and theoretical arguments suggest that the
arts (e.g., music, dance, and theatre) and/or physical activities (e.g., sports, martial arts, and youth
circus) can transform kids’ lives. Do they? Causal studies are lacking. There’s enough suggestive
evidence; the time is ripe for rigorous research on real-world arts and physical activity programs that
permit conclusions about causality to be drawn and that investigate what characteristics of programs
account for benefits. Granting agencies should be more open to funding such research.
I would like to encourage the field of human development to take as its charge: How can we help
children (and help the adults in their lives to help the children) navigate their growing up so they
grow into people we would all be proud to know—people who are upright, honest, considerate,
compassionate, kind, caring, self-confident yet humble, proud but not arrogant, conscientious,
bright, capable, playful, full of joy and a sense of wonder, committed to making a contribution—
regardless of a child’s nationality or country of birth, ethnicity, or gender, healthy or challenged,
born into affluence or poverty, strife or peace?
A few things follow from that: (1) We need more studies with clear real-world implications
and/or applications and (2) We need to see more “flesh” on the bones of many studies. I would
like to “hear” from the people who received an intervention or program. What was their experi-
ence in the program like? I’d like to hear what they have to say about ways the program failed
to live up to their hopes or expectations. Were there one or two particularly key moments or
experiences in the program they can describe? I’d like to know if they see themselves any differ-
ently now that they have experienced the program. That is, I would like to see more qualitative
data, more first-person accounts, alongside the “bare bones” of numbers entered into, and gener-
ated from, statistical analyses. And, I would like to hear from any observers or onlookers. What
changes have they observed and what did they see that led them to conclude that a particular
change had occurred?
Address correspondence to Adele Diamond, Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia,
2255 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC Canada V6T 2A1. E-mail: adele.diamond@ubc.ca
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RESEARCH THAT HELPS MOVE US CLOSER TO A WORLD WHERE EACH CHILD THRIVES 289
Importantly, (3) we need to see studies that enable us to draw strong causal inferences about
real-world activities that I and many others would predict have a high likelihood of helping chil-
dren grow into the kind of people I have described, activities that kids find fun and meaningful
such as social or community action projects that help one’s neighbors, neighborhood, or make
the world a better place (such as Free the Children), music-making (be it band, orchestra [such
as El Sistema], a drumming circle, choral singing, or something else), team sports (whether bas-
ketball, soccer, rowing crew, or any number of other team sports), martial arts, youth circus,
social communal dance, filmmaking, theatre, caring for an animal, 4-H, orienteering, building
things together, repairing things together, or any number of other comparable activities (Diamond,
2014).
TOPICS THAT NEED RIGOROUS RESEARCH AND THAT FEDERAL FUNDING
AGENCIES SHOULD BE MORE WILLING TO FUND
Sadly, there is a marked dearth of studies on the benefits of (the benefits created by or caused
by) the arts, physical activities, or community-focused activities for healthy development, pride
and self-esteem, feelings of self-efficacy and confidence, and outcomes such as better executive
functions, academic achievement, high school graduation, mental health, or physical health, and
reduced arrests, crime, substance abuse, depression, or unemployment.
The few studies that exist of these sorts of activities tend to be correlational, retrospective, or
case studies, which cannot demonstrate causality (i.e., they cannot demonstrate that these activi-
ties produced benefits). Instead of causal studies of such organic activities, many of which have
been around since the beginning of civilization, we see causal studies of more sterile and one-
sided activities such as computerized cognitive training, treadmill running, or riding a stationary
bicycle. Among studies having characteristics that meet the minimum criteria I present below and
looked at the effects of different activities at any age on executive functions, 29 investigated com-
puterized cognitive training and 15 investigated aerobic walking or running or weight training, but
only one investigated martial arts, only one investigated yoga, and only one investigated theater.
No studies to date (zero) have investigated whether participation in any team sport, music making
of any kind, participating in any social or community service activity, dance, social circus, and so
on produces (causes) any social, emotional, or cognitive benefit.
Studies of these real-world activities are needed!
The different parts of the human being (social, emotional, cognitive, physical, and spiritual)
are fundamentally interrelated (Diamond, 2007,2014). As I wrote in 2010,
Academic achievement, social–emotional competence, and physical and mental health are funda-
mentally and multiply interrelated. The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those ...is
to foster all of them .... We need to see the human being and human development as one whole,
that those who care deeply about developing cognitive competence, social skills, emotional well-
ness, or physical health and fitness are not in competition, that one component is not more important
than any another, and that we have much to learn from the insights and accumulated wisdom of our
counterparts in other fields and specialties. (Diamond, 2010, p. 789)
For example, executive functions (self-control, working memory, cognitive flexibility, focused
attention, and creative problem-solving) suffer first and most if anyone is stressed, sad, lonely, not
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290 DIAMOND
getting enough sleep, or not physically fit (reviews: Diamond, 2007,2013,2014; Ling, Kelly, &
Diamond, in press). Even relatively mild stress overwhelms prefrontal cortex (but not other brain
regions) with excess dopamine (Cerqueira, Mailliet, Almeida, Jay, & Sousa, 2007) and disrupts
communication between prefrontal cortex and other brain regions (Liston, McEwen, & Casey,
2009), thereby impairing executive functions (Arnsten, 1998). People often can’t think as clearly
or exercise as good self-control when stressed and may appear to have a disorder of executive
functions when they do not. The same is true if you don’t get enough sleep (Huang et al., 2007).
We show less creativity, are less able to think outside the box, and show worse attentional control
when we are sad (Ashby, Isen, & Turken, 1999; Desseilles et al., 2009; Hirt, Devers, & McCrea,
2008). Conversely, we are able to work more flexibly (Murray, Sujan, Hirt, & Sujan, 1990), are
more likely to see potential relatedness among unusual and atypical members of categories (Isen,
Daubman, & Nowicki, 1987; Isen, Johnson, Mertz, & Robinson, 1985), and able to deploy our
attention more efficiently and broadly (Grol, Koster, Bruyneel, & De Raedt, 2014) when we
are happier. (It’s not that sadder people are less creative, but rather that in general an individual
tends to be more creative when happier than when more miserable). We are fundamentally social;
people who feel alone, or are focusing on an anticipation of being alone, usually show poorer EFs
than people who feel, or anticipate feeling, more socially supported (Cacioppo & Patrick, 2008;
Campbell et al., 2006; Tangney, Baumeister, & Boone, 2004). Feeling excluded or as if you do
not belong has been shown in controlled experiments to impair EFs such as reasoning, selective
attention and persistence on difficult problems (Baumeister, DeWall, Ciarocco, & Twenge, 2005;
Twenge, Catanese, & Baumeister, 2002).
People who are more physically active, have better aerobic fitness, and better motor coordi-
nation show better EF performance (Boucard et al., 2012; Prakash, Voss, Erickson, & Kramer,
2015; Scudder et al., 2014; Voelcker-Rehage, Godde, & Staudinger, 2010).
Thus, if we ignore that a child is stressed, lonely, or not healthy, those unmet needs will work
against that child showing the executive functions of which he or she is capable and thus showing
the academic achievement of which the child is capable. Conversely, our executive functions are
at their best when we are not feeling stressed, feel socially nourished, and are happy, well rested,
and physically fit.
Trying to improve executive functions by the narrow strategy of only targeting executive func-
tions (as with computerized training regimens) or trying to improve physical health by narrowly
targeting only aerobic capacity (as in many exercise studies) in people who are feeling sad, lonely,
or stressed is less likely to succeed than approaches that address the whole person. Activities
and programs that should most successfully improve executive functions are those that not only
directly train and challenge executive functions but those that also indirectly support executive
functions by helping to reduce things that disrupt executive functions (e.g., loneliness) and/or
by increasing things that aid executive functions (e.g., happiness). They are precisely the pro-
grams for which it is so difficult to get funding to study and that hardly anyone is studying with
paradigms that permit causal inferences to be drawn.
The real-world activities for which I am calling for study address the whole person. For exam-
ple, making music together, dancing together, team sports, collaborating on a social or community
action project, martial arts, filmmaking, or theatre require, train, and challenge concentration,
focused attention, discipline, perseverance, split-second responses to the unexpected, creativity,
and holding complex sequences in mind (i.e., executive functions). They provide tremendous joy
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RESEARCH THAT HELPS MOVE US CLOSER TO A WORLD WHERE EACH CHILD THRIVES 291
and build feelings of pride, self-efficacy, and self-confidence. Participants are members of a com-
munity or team (they belong to something bigger than themselves), all working toward the same
shared goal. These activities are hands-on. They require moving, using one’s body, and often
build motor skills, coordination, balance, and/or aerobic capacity.
After the initial studies, we will need studies that hone in on what works best for whom, why,
and what the essential elements are. For example, would learning to play a musical instrument
through private lessons be less beneficial (as I predict) than learning to play a musical instrument
as is done in El Sistema (as a member of an ensemble from the start)? How important is the
presence or absence of competition? How important is the mentoring piece (an adult who really
and truly cares about you, listens when you need an ear and hears what you have to say, is
consistently there for you, respects you, and believes in you)? Will the type of program end up
mattering more or the way it is done? I have predicted that the way it is done will prove the
more critical variable (Diamond & Ling, in press). How important is it to involve participants as
decision makers, giving them a say in what is done and how, granting them a degree of autonomy?
Social-service and community-action projects are acts of generosity and caring. How important is
that element for various desirable outcomes such as self-confidence, pride, better ability to focus
and concentrate, reducing the likelihood of drug addiction or crime, or nurturing compassion?
I fear that exactly the activities needed to help children thrive are being cut from school cur-
ricula and from children’s lives. We in psychology can do something about that; my wish is that
we do.
STUDY CHARACTERISTICS THAT ARE ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL
“Studies that enable one to draw conclusions about causality” means (1) studies that are not
simply correlational (e.g., studies that look at one snapshot in time and find, for example, that
children who did A where better at X; we have no way of knowing if they might have been better
at X even if they had not done A). (2) Studies that include control groups (e.g., when studies
document that children who did A got better at X over time but do not have a control group, we
have no way of knowing if the children might have gotten better at X even if they had not done
A). (3) Studies that find differential outcomes between groups (e.g., if children who did not do A
or did B improved as much and performed as well afterwards as children who did A, we cannot
know whether A and B helped equally or neither A nor B helped at all; to draw a causal inference
we need differential benefits). Those three things are minimum criteria that any study that claims
to inform us about the benefits of a program or activity should meet.
STUDY CHARACTERISTICS WE SHOULD ASPIRE TO HAVE
Ideally, an intervention study should also have four other features: First, the control group should
not be passive, waitlist, or business as usual. Such a control group is not without any value; it
allows us to conclude that benefits from the program of interest were not simply due to (1) practice
effects from completing the assessment measures before and after the intervention or (2) the pas-
sage of time or developmental improvements over the period between pre- and posttest. However,
such a control group presents a low bar to pass because anything new might produce better results
than nothing or business as usual; indeed the hopes and expectations for what the intervention
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292 DIAMOND
could achieve might be the main causal factor rather than the intervention itself. Therefore, ideally
an intervention study should include an “active control group,” which also receives a new pro-
gram for which the hopes and expectations for success are also high, and whose members also
receive as much attention as those in the experimental group—that is, which is comparable to
the experimental group in all the ways that might be pivotal, except for the aspect(s) that the
researcher thinks are key to the intervention’s success.
Second, an intervention study ideally should look not only at immediate postintervention ben-
efits but also at benefits down the road. How long do benefits last? Do some benefits grow larger
over time? This is seldom done. For example, of the 62 studies that met the three minimum criteria
above that examined whether computerized or noncomputerized cognitive training, mindfulness,
aerobic activities, resistance training, or school curriculum might improve executive functions,
only 16% (10 studies) looked at any effects beyond immediately right after the program, only
10% (six studies) looked at benefits 6 months or longer after the program, and only 5% (three
studies) looked at outcomes a year or more after the program (Diamond & Ling, in press). That
is a pretty dismal record. We (i.e., the field) need to do better.
Third, participants need to be assigned to conditions because, if they can choose, one or more
factors that led them to choose different programs might be responsible for any differential out-
comes observed for the programs. The gold standard is random assignment. However, random
assignment should only be expected to yield groups with comparable characteristics when deal-
ing with large numbers, not when the number of participants per group is under 100 and certainly
not when that number is under 50. It is important to stratify randomization by participant vari-
ables potentially important to the results or to pair participants as closely as possible on variables
that might influence the results and then randomly assign one member of each pair to each group.
The other problem with random assignment and lack of choice is that some participants might
not like the activity of interest and might actively resist what the activity is trying is accomplish,
thus reducing the size of one’s effect. One way to address that is to only include children who
express interest in the activity of interest or only include teachers who express interest in teaching
the experimental curriculum and then randomly assign one half to the new activity or curriculum.
It’s true that in the real world teachers often have to teach an assigned curriculum without a
choice. However, after a curriculum has been shown to be effective, many more teachers are
likely to be open to teaching it than before effectiveness has been demonstrated.
Fourth, too often studies rely exclusively on what people tell us on surveys or rating forms, yet
research has shown time and again that what people report can often be inaccurate and unreliable
(Austin, Gibson, Deary, McGregor, & Dent, 1998; Donaldson & Grant-Vallone, 2002; Wells &
Olson, 2003). Questionnaires and rating forms should be complemented by one or more objective
measure. Too often studies rely on laboratory tests that bear little relation to the real world. Better
objective measures that are more relevant to real life are needed.
CONCLUSION
In sum, I am calling for well-designed intervention studies that permit strong causal inferences
to be drawn that examine the possibility that the arts, social service or community action, or/and
physical activities like sports, martial arts, or circus are critical for the outcomes we all want
for our children. I am calling for funding agencies to be far more willing to fund such critical
studies and their longitudinal follow-up. And I am calling for studies that thoughtfully explore
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RESEARCH THAT HELPS MOVE US CLOSER TO A WORLD WHERE EACH CHILD THRIVES 293
what works best for whom, and why—especially what critical elements must be present for
benefits to be seen. To fully understand and properly interpret the numbers generated by quanti-
tative research, and to generate new hypotheses for quantitative research to test, it is critical that
researchers make greater efforts to elicit first person accounts of participants and insights from
observers.
I have offered some predictions. I predict that the most beneficial activities will be those that
address the whole person: The most beneficial activities, I predict, tap into something the child
is, or becomes, passionate about. They provide the child tremendous joy and pride. They enable
the child to work on something deeply meaningful to that child and to others, who support one
another as part of a community, team, or ensemble, whose members are there for each other and
pull for one another. They enable a child to feel empowered and build the child’s deep-seated
confidence that he or she will eventually succeed. They enable a child to feel heard and deeply,
genuinely cared about, often by an adult mentor. The mentors believe in the kids to succeed while
holding them to uncompromisingly high standards. These activities build many skills including
discipline; the ability to persevere despite setbacks; cooperation; and compromise; seeing things
from others’ perspectives; focused attention and concentration; creative problem solving; and
flexibly adjusting to the unexpected. They keep one physically fit, with good dexterity, coordina-
tion, and balance. An arts, physical-activity, or social-action activity when done well can do all
these things. I have predicted such activities are not only best for well-rounded benefits but for
the best benefits in any individual sphere. If you care only about academic achievement, physical
achievements, or success in business, the best way to produce any of those, I predict, is not to
focus narrowly on only one domain (like more time for academic instruction to improve cognitive
performance). The best way is to also address social, emotional, and physical needs. If the arts
and physical activities were simply frills, they would not have arisen in every society and lasted
for thousands of years. I fear that schools are moving in exactly the wrong direction by squeezing
these out of the school day. Research in developmental science is critically needed to investigate,
with well-designed studies that permit strong causal inferences, the benefits of arts and physical
activities that are rapidly disappearing from children’s lives.
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