Effects of Different Types of Background Music on State Anxiety and Learning Outcomes of Chinese Undergraduates with and without Specific Learning Disabilities: The Role of Auditory Temporal Processing

This study examined how relaxing, non-relaxing, and no background music affected state anxiety and learning outcomes among Chinese undergraduates with and without Specific Learning Disabilities (SpLD), with attention to auditory temporal processing (ATP). Participants were 51 typically developing undergraduates and 51 undergraduates officially identified with SpLD. A two-step cluster analysis classified the SpLD group into a high-ATP subgroup (n = 26) and a low-ATP subgroup (n = 25). In a counterbalanced repeated-measures design, each participant received reading instruction and completed learning assessments under three conditions: relaxing music, non-relaxing music, and no music. Relaxing music was associated with lower state anxiety across groups; the condition by group interaction for anxiety was not significant. For learning outcomes, a significant interaction showed that relaxing music improved performance for both SpLD subgroups, most notably for students with lower ATP, whereas non-relaxing music improved performance only for the high-ATP SpLD subgroup. Typically developing students did not show meaningful performance differences across conditions. These findings suggest that background music should not be treated as a universal learning aid. Rather, relaxing music may be useful for reducing state anxiety, and music-based learning support for students with SpLD may need to consider auditory processing profiles, task demands, and individual preferences.