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Hyperventilation in anticipatory music performance anxiety.
Regina Katharina Studer1, Brigitta Danuser, Horst Hildebrandt
1Institute for Work and Health, University of Lausanne Lausanne, Switzerland.
Psychosomatic Medicine
|July 25, 2012
Summary
Music students experienced increased anxiety and physiological symptoms before public performances. High-performance anxiety correlated with hyperventilation, but physiological responses varied, indicating weak symptom-to-physiology coherence.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Music Performance
- Physiology
Background:
- Music performance anxiety (MPA) is linked to hyperventilation complaints in self-report studies.
- Physiological assessment of hyperventilation in MPA has been lacking.
- Understanding MPA's physiological impact is crucial for performer well-being.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate self-reported affective and physiological symptoms in music students.
- Measure cardiorespiratory variables, including end-tidal CO2 (Petco2), as a hyperventilation indicator.
- Examine response coherence between self-reported and physiological measures during performances.
Main Methods:
- 67 music students completed private and public performance assessments.
- Measured self-reported anxiety, physiological symptoms, and cardiorespiratory variables (including Petco2).
- Analyzed changes in these measures related to MPA levels and performance context.
Main Results:
- Self-reported anxiety and symptoms intensified from private to public performances, especially in highly anxious musicians.
- Most cardiorespiratory variables increased, except Petco2, which showed a unique pattern.
- Petco2 decreased in high-MPA musicians and increased in low-MPA musicians before public performance.
- Self-reported symptoms correlated with affective experience, not physiological measures.
Conclusions:
- Respiration stimulation before public performance varies with MPA levels in music students.
- Findings support a hyperventilation tendency in musicians with high performance anxiety.
- The coherence between reported symptoms and physiological activation is weak.
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