Publications
Article | Music performance anxiety: A study of anxiety predictors in higher education music students in Portugal
Helena Marinho, an integrated researcher at INET-md, co-authored the article "Music Performance Anxiety: A Study of Anxiety Predictors in Higher Education Music Students in Portugal", recently published in the International Journal of Music Education (Sage Journal). Available in open access.
The study investigates several anxiety predictors, such as gender, age, performance experience, health problems, coping strategies, and medication use among higher education music students in Portugal. The results not only show that female participants display higher music performance anxiety (MPA) scores than males, but also demonstrate that all the factors above have a significant impact on participants' MPA levels. The study suggests that preventive guidance and health programs could promote well-being and reduce MPA levels among music students.
Abstract:
Music performance anxiety (MPA) affects young musicians, and especially those in higher music education, due to the evaluation and performance demands of this context and their professional and personal expectations, with implications for health and wellbeing. This study investigates the following predictors of anxiety: gender, age, performance experience, health problems, coping strategies and medication use, among Portuguese higher education music students. The Portuguese Music Performance Anxiety Scale (PoMPAS) was used to collect data (N=414). A Student’s t-test for independent samples was used to assess the extent to which MPA levels differ according to gender, and multiple linear regression was conducted to evaluate how age, performance experience, health problems, coping strategies and medication use influence the MPA levels of the sample. The results show that female participants display higher MPA scores than males. To varying degrees, all the factors above significantly impact participants’ MPA levels, as evaluated by the scale’s Behavioural/Emotional, Contextual/Physiological and Cognitive elements. The results of this study suggest that preventive orientation and health programmes could promote the wellbeing, and, consequently, decrease the MPA levels, of this group.
Keywords: Health promotion, music education, PoMPAS, Portuguese students, wellbeing.
