An Interview Study of the Acquisition and Transfer of Creative Self-Regulation Across Domains in Youth and Adulthood and the Role of Parental Psychological Support

Creative self-regulation skills have been positively linked to creative achievement across professional and hobby domains. However, it remains unclear whether instrumental music training supports creativity in other domains through the acquisition of creative self-regulation skills and the parental emotional support. Addressing this gap, we examined how creative self-regulation skills acquired through (in)formal instrumental music training during childhood and adolescence may transfer to other creative domains across the lifespan, and how parental psychological support influences this process. Twenty-nine professional adult instrumental musicians, with diverse formal and informal music education backgrounds and creative hobbies, participated in semi-structured online interviews. The Qualitative data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis in Atlas.ti. Reflexive thematic analysis was used during the data familiarization and coding phases to identify any biased hypotheses. From 959 codes organised into 55 code groups, five themes emerged: (1) active acquisition and use of creative self-regulation skills by formal and informal learners during adolescence and adulthood, (2) passive acquisition of general self-regulation skills during childhood, (3) sympathetic and (4) unsympathetic parental support and (5) transfer of personal drivers, knowledge, and methods (e.g., planning, problem solving, implementation, and reflection). Formal and informal learners primarily developed and transferred creative self-regulation through creative music practices such as composition and improvisation into other domains including sports, writing, design, architecture, crafts, and theatre. Parents in the sympathetic support category, provided practical and emotional support for all activities, although their role in facilitating transfer requires further study. Our findings enhance our understanding of how creative music training could facilitate the development and transfer of creative self-regulation skills during youth.