Popular Musician Occupational Stress and Psychological Ill Health: An Exploratory Factor Analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Popular musicians are exposed to many occupational stressors, including unpredictable work schedules, touring and economic precarity, that have been associated in prior studies with psychological ill health. This study sought to identify occupational stressors most strongly associated with depression, anxiety, and alcohol misuse in popular musicians. METHODS: An online survey was completed by 317 popular musicians that included the Musician Occupational Stress Scale (MOSS), a validated measure of occupational stress in popular musicians. An exploratory principle-factor analysis (EFA) investigated the dimensions of response pat¬terns in the items comprising the MOSS. RESULTS: Four factors were identified that predicted 50% of musician occupational stress: Work Insecurity Stress, Tour Stress, Performance Stress, and Professional Relationship Stress. In addition to financial distress, each factor was significantly associated with depression and anxiety and Tour Stress also was associated with alcohol misuse. After adjusting for all other factors and financial distress, only Work Insecurity Stress remained associated with depression (odds ratio [OR]= 5.42; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 3.23-9.09) and anxiety (OR=5.95; 95% CI = 3.51-10.11). Tour Stress became inversely associated with depression (OR= 0.59; 95% CI = 0.40-0.89) and anxiety (OR=0.60; 95% CI = 0.40-0.89). After adjustment, alcohol misuse was associated with Professional Relationship Stress (OR=1.66; 95% CI = 1.04-2.65) but inversely correlated with Performance Stress (OR=0.60; 95% CI = 0.40-0.91). CONCLUSIONS: The four-factor model was shown to reliably simplify driving associations of occupational stressors that negatively impact psychological functioning in popular musicians. Dissemination of these findings could have practical implications in developing effective outreach messaging to promote psychological resilience and guide psychotherapeutic intervention strategies for this high-risk occupational group.

A Revised Occupational Stress Measure for Popular Musicians: Pilot Test of Validity and Reliability.

OBJECTIVE: Popular (i.e., nonclassical) musicians have higher rates of depression, anxiety, and suicide than the general population. Occupational and financial stress have been suggested to be social determinants of musician mental health burden. A pilot study was conducted to assess the internal consistency and test-retest reliability of a revised measure of popular musician occupational stress and compare the results to those of other, previously validated instruments used in the same survey. METHODS: An online survey was emailed to a convenience sample of 150 musicians who had formerly accessed mental health services through a non-profit organization in Austin, Texas. The survey included a revised Musician Occupational Stress Scale (MOSS), a measure of financial stress, and instruments to screen for clinically significant depression, anxiety, and alcohol misuse. RESULTS: Forty musicians (26.7%) completed the initial survey and 19 completed a repeat survey 2 weeks later for the test-retest comparison. Internal consistency coefficients for individual instruments ranged from 0.86-0.92. The piloted MOSS demonstrated good internal consistency (Cronbach's α=0.91; one-sided 95% CI ≥0.88) and test-retest reliability (r=0.86; p<0.0001). The MOSS also showed reasonable construct validity, correlating well with a single question of perceived occupational stress (ρ=0.46; p<0.001) over career satisfaction (ρ=-0.09; p>0.05). CONCLUSION: The individual, construct-specific measures included in this survey all demonstrated good internal consistency and test-retest reliability on examination. While the results are preliminary due to the small sample size, the MOSS psychometrically performed at a level equal to or better than other widely used and well-validated measures included in this survey.

Popular Musician Responses to Mental Health Treatment.

OBJECTIVE: Popular (i.e., nonclassical) musicians have higher rates of mental health disorders and mental health service utilization than the general population. Little is known, however, about how popular musicians perceive mental health interventions in terms of overall satisfaction and therapeutic benefit. METHODS: An online client satisfaction survey was sent to all musicians and family members who received mental health services through a nonprofit mental health organization in Austin, Texas, between July 2014 and June 2015 (n=628). RESULTS: 260 individuals (41.4%) responded to the survey, of whom 94% (n=244) were musicians. A majority of musician respondents were male (60%) and white (82%). 87% received counseling, 32% received psychiatric medication treatment, and 8% received addiction recovery services. 97% of musicians (205/211) rated their counselor as 'very good' or 'excellent,' 88% (64/79) rated their psychiatric providers as 'very good' or 'excellent,' and 94% (17/19) rated their addiction recovery specialists as 'very good' or 'excellent' (nonsignificant between all categories, p>0.05). 89% of musicians receiving counseling, 84% receiving psychiatric medication treatment, and 95% receiving addiction recovery services agreed or strongly agreed that their symptoms and overall functioning improved as a result of their treatment (nonsignificant between all categories, p>0.05). CONCLUSION: Popular musicians express strong provider satisfaction and overall benefit when mental health interventions are accessible, affordable, and delivered by professionals familiar with their concerns. More research is needed to understand the unique psychosocial stresses popular musicians face to inform treatment planning for this high-risk, underserved population.