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Behavioral Sciences
Special Issues
Interventions for Music Performance Anxiety
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Interventions for Music Performance Anxiety

A special issue of Behavioral Sciences (ISSN 2076-328X). This special issue belongs to the section "Psychiatric, Emotional and Behavioral Disorders".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2025) | Viewed by 8510

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Margaret S. Osborne

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia
Interests: music performance anxiety; musicians’ health; wellbeing; psychological flexibility; self-compassion; acceptance and commitment therapy; virtual reality performance simulation; peak performance; music listening; professional psychology training

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Performing music is one of the most complex tasks related to human performance, incorporating both cognitive and sensorimotor skills. The need for performance excellence exposes musicians to significant physical and psychological stress and injury throughout their education and professional career. Performance anxiety is the most significant psychological issue experienced by performing musicians of any age. This can be significantly detrimental to a performer’s psychological well-being and efforts to achieve optimal performance. Yet, the complete elimination of performance anxiety is neither possible nor desirable, with some degree of anxiety being a natural and desirable feature of optimal performance. Individual differences abound with respect to the characteristics of anxiety, physiologically, cognitively, emotionally and behaviorally. These differences drive the need to consider a nuanced approach that enables musicians achieve their ideal psychological state for performance.

This Special Issue aims to identify psychological interventions that can aid musicians with performance anxiety. The compendium will contain original, theoretically grounded and empirically validated studies of practical, applied approaches that enable musicians to respond to symptoms of anxiety in constructive ways in order to enhance their performance. The scope of these articles and reviews will enrich our understanding of interventions that aim to manage and transform performance anxiety in clinical, educational, and professional settings across the lifespan.

Dr. Margaret S. Osborne
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Behavioral Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • performance anxiety
  • musicians
  • music performance
  • treatment
  • prevention
  • coping strategies
  • education
  • flow
  • peak performance
  • musician’s health

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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13 pages, 364 KiB  
Case Report
Racial Imposter Syndrome and Music Performance Anxiety: A Case Study
by Trisnasari Fraser
Behav. Sci. 2025, 15(8), 1057; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15081057 - 4 Aug 2025
Viewed by 570
Abstract
The impact of cultural identity on music performance anxiety (MPA) is under-researched. This retrospective case study explores the treatment of a professional musician in her 30s who presented with MPA associated with performing music related to her estranged father’s cultural background. The case [...] Read more.
The impact of cultural identity on music performance anxiety (MPA) is under-researched. This retrospective case study explores the treatment of a professional musician in her 30s who presented with MPA associated with performing music related to her estranged father’s cultural background. The case formulation identified attachment ruptures and negative cognitions associated with her mixed cultural heritage that contributed to an experience of imposterism—referred to in lay literature as ‘racial imposter syndrome’ (RIS). It was hypothesized that RIS served to perpetuate her MPA. An attachment-based approach and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy framework was adopted, drawing on evidence-based treatment for MPA and mixed heritage individuals. The Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21), Outcome Rating Scale (ORS) and Session Rating Scale (SRS) were used as outcome measures. These measures fluctuated throughout the therapy. While improvements were observed in depression scores midway through treatment, elevated stress and depression scores at the conclusion of treatment were understood to reflect situational factors related to financial and housing precarity. Nonetheless, at the conclusion of treatment, the client showed improvement in managing MPA, evidenced by her progress in recording an album and reengagement with public performances. This case study adds to the limited research on treating MPA in racially minoritized and mixed-race individuals, Further research is required across larger and more diverse samples to better understand the relationship between MPA and RIS and to develop effective interventions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Interventions for Music Performance Anxiety)
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33 pages, 822 KiB  
Systematic Review
Therapeutic Interventions for Music Performance Anxiety: A Systematic Review and Narrative Synthesis
by Caitlin Kinney, Phoebe Saville, Annie Heiderscheit and Hubertus Himmerich
Behav. Sci. 2025, 15(2), 138; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15020138 - 26 Jan 2025
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 4859
Abstract
The aim of this systematic review was to summarise and evaluate the published literature on interventions for treating music performance anxiety (MPA). Adhering to the PRISMA guidelines, a comprehensive literature search of three electronic databases was conducted: PubMed, Web of Science, and PsychInfo [...] Read more.
The aim of this systematic review was to summarise and evaluate the published literature on interventions for treating music performance anxiety (MPA). Adhering to the PRISMA guidelines, a comprehensive literature search of three electronic databases was conducted: PubMed, Web of Science, and PsychInfo (Ovid). Records were included in this review if they were quantitative pre–post interventional studies that utilised a recognised outcome measure or a clinical diagnosis for evaluating MPA. A narrative synthesis was orchestrated on 40 extracted studies assessing 1365 total participants. The principal intervention types observed included cognitive behavioural therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, music therapy, yoga and/or mindfulness, virtual reality, hypnotherapy, biofeedback, and multimodal therapy. Although most of the reviewed studies demonstrated encouraging improvements in musicians’ MPA following delivered interventions, the current evidence base remains in its infancy, and numerous methodological weaknesses exist across studies. Small sample sizes, heterogeneity amongst treatment programmes, lack of follow-up data, a scarcity of standardised MPA assessments, and few randomised controlled designs render it imprudent to draw definitive recommendations concerning the interventions’ efficacy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Interventions for Music Performance Anxiety)
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