Music performance anxiety, sleep problems, and disordered eating: the role of performance and learning self-efficacy.

BACKGROUND

Music students face chronic evaluative stress, increasing their vulnerability to sleep problems and disordered eating. Drawing on transdiagnostic and self-regulation frameworks, this study examined whether music performance anxiety (MPA) is associated with both outcomes and whether music performance and learning self-efficacy moderate these associations.

METHODS

A cross-sectional survey of 260 Chinese music students assessed music performance anxiety, sleep problems, disordered eating, and self-efficacy. Robust maximum likelihood structural equation modeling and Johnson-Neyman analyses were used, controlling body mass index, age, gender, and years of music study.

RESULTS

Music performance anxiety correlated with disordered eating (r = .24, p <.001) and sleep problems (r = .21, p <.001). In the structural model, music performance anxiety was positively associated with disordered eating (β = 0.25, p <.01). For sleep problems, music performance self-efficacy showed a negative main effect (β = -0.41, p <.001), whereas the direct effect of music performance anxiety was non-significant (β = 0.04, p >.05). The interaction between music performance anxiety and music performance self-efficacy was negatively associated with sleep problems (β = -0.41, p <.01). Johnson-Neyman analyses showed that music performance anxiety was associated with sleep problems only when music performance self-efficacy was < 3.80 or > 5.55.

CONCLUSIONS

Music performance anxiety is a transdiagnostic risk factor among music students, directly relating to disordered eating, while its link to sleep problems depends on domain-specific self-efficacy. Interventions may combine anxiety reduction with balanced self-efficacy support to improve recovery under performance pressure.