The role of retrospectively perceived parenting style and adult attachment behaviour in music performance anxiety

This study aimed to examine the extent to which music performance anxiety relates to retrospectively perceived parenting style and adult attachment behaviour. Participants were 82 music students (Mage = 23.5 years, SD = 3.4) with the majority being vocal (30.5%), string (24.4%) or piano (19.5%) students each with about 20 performance opportunities per year. Music performance anxiety was assessed using the German version of the Kenny Music Performance Anxiety Inventory. Parenting style was measured by retrospective self-report using the German version of the Measure of Parenting Style, adult attachment behaviour by the Relationship Questionnaire based on Bartholomew’s four-category model. Furthermore, general anxiety-related symptoms were assessed by the Severity Measure for Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Canonical and partial canonical correlation analyses were used to measure the dependence between multi-dimensional constructs: Both parenting style and adult attachment behaviour were related to music performance anxiety as measured by a performance-related sub-scale of the Kenny Music Performance Anxiety Inventory (r = 0.45, p = 0.01 and r = 0.37, p = 0.02, respectively). The partial canonical correlation analysis, however, showed no significant relations between music performance anxiety and parenting styles or adult attachment behaviour. A strong link of music performance anxiety and generalised anxiety was found in all analyses. This study expands on more theoretical research in this area and provides first empirical insight into this complex multi-dimensional relationship.