mindfulness and the self-regulation of music performance anxiety

276 Pages·2013·1.49 MB·English

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MINDFULNESS AND THE SELF-REGULATION OF
MUSIC PERFORMANCE ANXIETY

Virginia Anne Farnsworth-Grodd

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of Doctor of Clinical Psychology,
The University of Auckland, 2012.
MINDFULNESS AND THE SELF-REGULATION OF MUSIC PERFORMANCE ANXIETY ii

ABSTRACT

Music performance anxiety is the experience of strong and persistent anxiety related
to the performance of music. It is highly prevalent among musicians and can lead to
the impairment of performance quality, or the complete abandonment of an
individual’s study or career. To date, studies examining musicians’ coping efforts
have not examined the mechanisms that drive adaptive coping responses to manage
music performance anxiety. This knowledge is essential before interventions to
manage music performance anxiety can be designed and tested. The present research
addressed this gap by investigating the role mindfulness played in guiding coping
efforts to regulate music performance anxiety in a sample of university music
performance students (N = 159). The study was longitudinal and questionnaire-
based, and included two new measures designed to assess musicians’ coping
strategies, as well as measures of mindfulness, music performance anxiety,
perceptions of performance quality, and final grade. A Self-Regulation Model of
Music Performance Anxiety was developed to test mediational relationships. Results
showed that the mindfulness facet act with awareness (expressed in dispositional and
situational forms) was associated with lower music performance anxiety. Coping
responses of higher hope and lower avoidance partially mediated dispositional act
with awareness effects on situational act with awareness. The goal-oriented strategy
of hope also contributed to increased practice efforts. During performance, the
coping strategies of positive focus, self-kindness, and self-acceptance partially
mediated the relationships between levels of situational act with awareness and
music performance anxiety. Finally, the relationships between situational act with
MINDFULNESS AND THE SELF-REGULATION OF MUSIC PERFORMANCE ANXIETY iii

awareness and performance outcomes were fully mediated by levels of music
performance anxiety. These findings lay the foundation for future research to run a
randomized control trial to test a mindfulness-based intervention aimed at developing
act with awareness and coping strategies, including hope, positive focus, self-
acceptance, and less avoidance. Educators and clinicians working to reduce the
negative impact of music performance anxiety need to consider how they target
music students’ ability to bring act with awareness, and the adaptive potential of
hope, positive focus, self-acceptance, and less avoidance, to their preparation and
performance.
MINDFULNESS AND THE SELF-REGULATION OF MUSIC PERFORMANCE ANXIETY iv

This thesis is dedicated to

Uwe, Cassandra, Sebastian, and Zelma
MINDFULNESS AND THE SELF-REGULATION OF MUSIC PERFORMANCE ANXIETY v

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to acknowledge the special people who have helped and supported me in
completing this thesis. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to the following people:
My supervisor, Professor Linda Cameron; you have been a source of inspiration.
Thank you for your guidance, enthusiasm, and care throughout the course of my
study, and especially in the completion of this research.
The students from The Universities of Auckland and Waikato, thank you for giving
your time to take part in this project, and the members of The Manukau Symphony
Orchestra, for your energy in taking part in the pilot study.
The staff of the National Institute of Creative Arts and Industries – School of Music;
thank you for supporting this study, particularly during the recruitment phase.
My mother and family; thank you for your support, especially my husband Uwe and
my daughter Cassandra, your love has been my major source of strength.
Thanks to Carol and Linda, for your friendship, and to my late friend Noelle for
sharing her passion for the ‘power of now’.
My fellow doctoral students, in particular Loshni, Rachael and Adrienne; thank you
for your humour, emotional support, and friendship.
A special thank you to Sally, you kept me sane during the process of editing and
formatting, and Bob for your encouragement to pursue this goal.
Finally, thank you to Professor Dianna Kenny for your advice during the early
stages of this project, and The University of Auckland for providing me with a
Doctoral Scholarship and the resources to carry out this research.
MINDFULNESS AND THE SELF-REGULATION OF MUSIC PERFORMANCE ANXIETY vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract ii
List of Tables x
List of Figures xiii
Abbreviations xiv
Overview 1

CHAPTER 1: Overview of Music Performance Anxiety ………………… 3

Introduction …………………………………………………….......... 3
Understanding Music Performance Anxiety within the Field of
Anxiety ……………………………………………………………... 4
Self-Regulation …………………………………………………......... 8
How Music Performance Anxiety Manifests ……………….......... 9
Prevalence ……………………………………………………………. 12
Characteristics of People who suffer from Music Performance
Anxiety ………………………………………............................... 14
Performance Quality ………………………………………………… 16
Treatment of Music Performance Anxiety ………………….......... 17
Summary ………………………………………………………………. 20

CHAPTER 2: Overview of Mindfulness …………………………………. 22

Introduction …………………………………………………….......... 22
Origin …………………………………………………………………. 23
Definition ……………………………………………………………... 24
Trait and State Mindfulness ………………………………………… 25
Mindfulness – Single or Multifaceted?......................................... 26
Mindfulness-Oriented Interventions ………………………………. 28
Trait Mindfulness and Psychological Health ………………......... 30
Mindfulness and Music Performance Anxiety …………………… 32
Summary ………………………………………………………………. 34

CHAPTER 3: A Self-Regulatory Approach to Mindfulness and Coping
with Music Performance Anxiety ………………………………………... 35

Introduction …………………………………………………….......... 35
Coping Theory………………………………………………………… 36
Self-Regulation Theory ……………………………………………… 37
Emotion Regulation …………………………………………………. 40
Mindfulness and Emotion Regulation ………………………......... 42
MINDFULNESS AND THE SELF-REGULATION OF MUSIC PERFORMANCE ANXIETY vii

Self-Regulation and the Music Performance Process …….......... 44

CHAPTER 4: Coping with Music Performance Anxiety ………………… 48

Introduction …………………………………………………………... 48
Coping Measures …………………………………………………….. 49
Problem-Focused and Emotion-Focused Coping ……………….. 50
Relating Problem-Focused and Emotion-Focused
Coping Strategies to Music Performance Anxiety and
Mindfulness………………………………………………………… 52
Emotion Regulation (Emotion-Focused) Coping and
Mindfulness ……………………………………………………….. 55
Physiological Modulation ………………………………………….. 64
Summary of Literature Review……………………………………… 65

CHAPTER 5: Study Aims and Hypotheses ………………………............ 67

Study Aims ……………………………………………………………. 68

CHAPTER 6: Method …………………………………………………......... 73

Introduction …………………………………………………………... 73
Participants …………………………………………………………... 73
Study Design ………………………………………………………….. 76
Procedure……………………………………………………………… 81
Development and Pilot Testing of two New Coping Measures … 82
Main Study Testing of Coping Measures ………………………. 98
Measures………………………………………………………... 99
Perception of Performance Quality Measures …………………… 106
Data Analysis ………………………………………………………… 107

CHAPTER 7: Results ……………………………………………………….. 114

Introduction …………………………………………………….......... 114
Section 1 Patterns on all Self-Report Measures ……………………….......... 115
Summary of High Scoring CBMP and CDMP Items ……………. 119
Section 2 Set 1 of Analyses Exploring Relationships between
Dispositional and Situational Mindfulness, and Music
Performance Anxiety (Times 1, 2, & 3) …..……………........... 119
Section 3 Set 2 of Analyses Investigating Relationships between
Dispositional Act with Awareness (Time 1), Coping Before
Music Performance Subscales (Time 2), and Situational Act
with Awareness (Time 3) ………………………………………… 132
Section 4 Set 3 of Analyses Investigating Relationships between Practice
and Key Study Variables ………………………………………… 139
MINDFULNESS AND THE SELF-REGULATION OF MUSIC PERFORMANCE ANXIETY viii

Section 5 Set 4 of Analyses Investigating Relationships between
Situational Act Aware, Coping During Music Performance
Subscales, and Music Performance Anxiety (Time 3) ……..... 145
Section 6 Set 5 of Analyses Investigating Relationships between
Situational Act with Awareness, Music Performance Anxiety,
Post-Event Rumination, and Performance Outcomes ……….. 154

CHAPTER 8: Discussion …………………………………………………… 164

Introduction …………………………………………………….......... 164
Section 1 The Development of two New Coping Measures ………………… 165
Section 2 Relationships between Gender, Anxiety Sensitivity, and Music
Performance Anxiety …………………………………………….. 167
Section 3 Support for the Mediating Effects of Coping Subscales (Time 2)
on the Relationship between Dispositional Act with
Awareness (Time 1), and Situational Act with Awareness
(Time 3) ……………………………………………………………. 172
Section 4 Understanding the Impact of Dispositional Mindfulness, and
Coping (Time 2), on Practice Efforts (Time 2) ………………. 177
Section 5 Support for the Mediational Effect of Coping Strategies (Time
3) on the relationship between Situational Act with
Awareness, and Music Performance Anxiety (Time 3) …….... 179
Section 6 The Role of Situational Act with Awareness and Music
Performance Anxiety (Time 3) on Perceptions of
Performance Outcomes and Final Grade ………………......... 182
Implications …………………………………………………….......... 184
Strengths of the Current Study …………………………...………… 189
Limitations of the Current Study …………………………………... 191
Future Directions ……………………………………………………. 193

CONCLUSION ………………………………………………………………. 196

APPENDIX A:
Participant Information Sheet 199

APPENDIX B:
Consent Form 202

APPENDIX C:
Demographic and Music Characteristics 204

APPENDIX D:
Music Performance Anxiety Characteristics 206

APPENDIX E:
Practice Characteristics 207
MINDFULNESS AND THE SELF-REGULATION OF MUSIC PERFORMANCE ANXIETY ix

APPENDIX F:
Performance Anxiety Inventory 208

APPENDIX G:
Five Facets of Mindfulness Questionnaire 210

APPENDIX H:
Anxiety Sensitivity Index – 3 213

APPENDIX I:
Trait Anxiety Inventory 215

APPENDIX J:
Centre for Epidemiologic Studies – Depression Scale Short Version 217

APPENDIX K:
Revised Impact of Event Scale 218

APPENDIX L:
Post Event Processing Questionnaire 219

APPENDIX M:
Coping before Music Performance 221

APPENDIX N:
Coping during Music Performance 225

APPENDIX O:
Performance Problems Scale 228

APPENDIX P:
Satisfaction with Performance Scale 229

APPENDIX Q:
Perception of Performance versus Practice Scale 230

References 231