Childhood Adversity and the Creative Experience in Adult Professional Performing Artists

Abstract

Childhood adversity is identified as any exposure to abuse, neglect or family dysfunction. Greater exposure to childhood adversity has been strongly identified with increased morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study was to examine differences in creative experiences, fantasy proneness, dispositional flow, exposure to adult traumatic events, and psychopathology (internalized shame, trait anxiety), amongst professional performing artists who experienced no childhood adversity, some adversity, or substantial adversity. This cross-section IRB approved study examined 234 professional performers (dancers, opera singers, actors, directors, musicians). Self-report measurements were included to examine the following psychological factors: adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), experience of creativity questionnaire, dispositional flow, trait anxiety, internalized shame, fantasy, and total adult and childhood traumatic events. The sample was divided into three groups based on ACE scores: 0 ACE (n = 93), 1–3 ACEs (n = 95), ≥4 ACEs (n = 42). The MANCOVA (with age and gender as covariates) results revealed no significant (p = 0.280) differences between all three ACE groups for the nine flow scales (optimal performance measurements). Performing artists with ≥4 ACEs had significantly stronger creative experiences (p = 0.006) related to distinct creative processing, absorption, and a transformational sense of self and the world. They were also more fantasy prone, shame-based, anxious, and experienced more cumulative past traumatic events (p < 0.001). Although the high ACE group experienced greater negative effects, they also endorsed positive creative performance experiences.

The psychology of professional and student actors: Creativity, personality, and motivation

“…In general, they identified heighted subclinical levels of personality disorder related traits in their sample: with actors scoring significantly higher than non-actors on Antisocial, Narcissistic, Histrionic, Borderline, and Obsessive-Compulsive personality disorder scales, and only male actors displaying significantly heightened levels of Schizotypal, Avoidant, and Dependent personality disorders. This finding appears to be related to Thomson and Jaque’s [ 11 ] finding that professional performing artists (including actors and dancers) who reported significantly greater amounts of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) also reported experiencing creative states (e.g., a transformational sense of self) more often than performing artists who did not experience as many ACEs.…”

“…In related qualitative work, Robb, Due, and Venning [ 10 ] conducted in-depth interviews of self-identified professional actors concerning their well-being and vulnerability to mental illness (e.g., anxiety and depressive disorders), finding that professional actors used a wide-range of strategies to protect their well-being including positive engagement with the artistic community, focusing on personal growth, and conceptualizing acting as a meaningful life-purpose. Davison and Furnham [ 11 ] used a large sample of professional actors with strict inclusion criteria (i.e., actors were recruited through their agents, assuring they were indeed professional) and administered a number of well-validated self-report measures that were aligned with personality disorder profiles (e.g., Schizoid, Dependent, Obsessive-Compulsive). In general, they identified heighted subclinical levels of personality disorder related traits in their sample: with actors scoring significantly higher than non-actors on Antisocial, Narcissistic, Histrionic, Borderline, and Obsessive-Compulsive personality disorder scales, and only male actors displaying significantly heightened levels of Schizotypal, Avoidant, and Dependent personality disorders.…”

Spatial working memory, not IQ or executive function, discriminates early psychosis and clinically vulnerable creative individuals

“…It has been associated with hallucinations in schizophrenia and has been proposed as a trait marker for schizophrenia (Sack, van de Ven, Etschenberg, Schztz, & Linden, 2005). Moreover it is one of the indicators of creativity (Michalica & Hunt, 2013; Thomson & Jaque, 2018; Wang et al, 2017). It may be that there is also a relationship between those with strong mental imagery and spatial working memory such that those with heightened mental imagery may utilize it to aid performance in visuospatial working memory tasks (Keogh & Pearson, 2011).…”

The Neural Mechanism Underlying Cognitive and Emotional Processes in Creativity

“…According to insights from Freud and Weber, it was found that people could produce more creative artwork such as sculptures or poems when they were forced to suppress their anger, possibly due to sublimation ( Kim et al, 2013 ). Emotion can also affect creativity through obsessive thinking, which is often associated with childhood adversity ( Arnsten, 2007 ; Thomson and Jaque, 2018 ). Although people with early exposure to childhood adversity experience greater negative effects, they are also endorsed with positive creative performance experiences ( Thomson and Jaque, 2018 ).…”

“…Emotion can also affect creativity through obsessive thinking, which is often associated with childhood adversity ( Arnsten, 2007 ; Thomson and Jaque, 2018 ). Although people with early exposure to childhood adversity experience greater negative effects, they are also endorsed with positive creative performance experiences ( Thomson and Jaque, 2018 ). Creativity, in turn, may be used to modulate negative emotions.…”