Respiratory Variability, Sighing, Anxiety, and Breathing Symptoms in Low- and High-Anxious Music Students Before and After Performing

Abstract

Music performance anxiety (MPA) is a major problem for music students. It is largely unknown whether music students who experience high or low anxiety differ in their respiratory responses to performance situations and whether these co-vary with selfreported anxiety, tension, and breathing symptoms. Affective processes influence dynamic respiratory regulation in ways that are reflected in measures of respiratory variability and sighing. This study had two goals. First, we determined how measures of respiratory variability, sighing, self-reported anxiety, tension, and breathing symptoms vary as a function of the performance situation (practice vs. public performance), performance phase (pre-performance vs. post-performance), and the general MPA level of music students. Second, we analyzed to what extent self-reported anxiety, tension, and breathing symptoms co-vary with the respiratory responses. The participants were 65 university music students. We assessed their anxiety, tension, and breathing symptoms with Likert scales and recorded their respiration with the LifeShirt system during a practice performance and a public performance. For the 10-min periods before and after each performance, we computed number of sighs, coefficients of variation (CVs, a measure of total variability), autocorrelations at one breath lag (ARs(1), a measure of non-random variability) and means of minute ventilation (V' E), tidal volume (V T), inspiration time (T I), and expiration time (T E). CVs and sighing were greater whereas AR(1) of V' E was lower in the public session than in the practice session. The effect of the performance situation on CVs and sighing was larger for high-MPA than for low-MPA participants. Higher MPA levels were associated with lower CVs. At the within-individual level, anxiety, tension, and breathing symptoms were associated with deeper and slower breathing, greater CVs, lower AR(1) of V' E , and more sighing. We conclude that respiratory variability and sighing are sensitive to the performance situation and to musicians' general MPA level. Moreover, anxiety, tension, breathing

Music performance anxiety from the challenge and threat perspective: psychophysiological and performance outcomes

“…A first challenge would be having a similar number of male and female participants to avoid a gender bias. Previous studies on the same population [7,21] showed that, on average, 60 to 67% of the sample were female. Having a well-balanced gender ratio is important considering gender differences in the prevalence of anxiety disorders [87,88] and especially of MPA [2], and in the psychophysiological response to stressors [89].…”

“…Regarding physiological measures, skin conductance, heart rate (HR), urinary adrenaline and noradrenaline did not show significant differences as a function of musicians' general MPA level [3,6,8]. In contrast, analyses of the respiratory responses showed that the general MPA level significantly moderated changes from a private to a public performance in partial pressure of end-tidal carbon dioxide (P et CO 2 ), total respiratory variability (quantified by the coefficient of variation) and sigh rate [7,8]. Salivary cortisol (sC), salivary dehydroepiandrosterone (sDHEA), and salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) have yet to be considered in relation to potential MPA-associated differences in the context of music performance.…”

“…Research on the psychophysiological concomitants of MPA is scant. With regard to their subjective experience, general MPA level has been associated with significant increases in state anxiety from a private to a public performance [3,7]. Regarding physiological measures, skin conductance, heart rate (HR), urinary adrenaline and noradrenaline did not show significant differences as a function of musicians' general MPA level [3,6,8].…”

Preliminary Assessment of Individual Zone of Optimal Functioning Model Applied to Music Performance Anxiety in College Piano Majors

“…Research on music performance anxiety (MPA) has been conducted for several decades and is still ongoing ( Fishbein et al, 1988 ; Steptoe, 2001 ; Kenny and Osborne, 2006 ; Kenny, 2011 ; Topoğlu, 2014 ; Guyon et al, 2020b ). MPA is a globally negative and debilitating psychological phenomenon in musicians regardless of age, gender, experience, practicing time, and music genre ( Brugués, 2011a , b ; Studer et al, 2011 ; Barbar et al, 2014 ; Nusseck et al, 2015 ; Bannai et al, 2016 ; Sousa et al, 2016 ; van Fenema et al, 2017 ; Burin et al, 2019 ; Guyon et al, 2020a ). MPA had been identified in music students and shown statistically significant differences in various psychological constructs, including optimism, self-efficacy, achievement motivation, and sensitivity to reward and punishment ( Alzugaray et al, 2016 ).…”

Modulation of respiration pattern variability and its relation to anxiety symptoms in remitted recurrent depression

“…Acutely higher respiratory variability in reaction to anxious or otherwise stressful stimuli is a biologically adequate response and will resolve after some time (e.g. Guyon et al., 2020 ). In contrast, longer lasting high respiration pattern variability (RPV) instead of regular deep abdominal breathing is considered maladaptive and seems related to psychological problems ( Asnaashari et al., 2012 ; Vlemincx et al., 2013 ).…”