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This chapter attempts to define music performance anxiety, recognizing that the accurate naming of a phenomenon is a first and essential step in its analysis and eventual understanding. To date, performance anxiety has not been classified within the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association and that even among music researchers, there is no consensus regarding the definition of music performance anxiety. The term ‘stage fright’ has been used interchangeably, somewhat unsatisfactorily, with the term ‘music performance anxiety’. In attempting to capture the essence of the condition, current conceptualizations of music performance anxiety are reviewed as a dimensional construct, as occupational stress, as a focal anxiety disorder, as social anxiety or social anxiety disorder (social phobia), and as a panic disorder. The comorbidity of music performance anxiety with other disorders is also considered, in particular social anxiety disorder. In the final section, a number of frequently observed characteristics of people who suffer performance anxiety are reviewed, including trait anxiety, neuroticism, negative affectivity, introversion, and behavioural inhibition; fear of negative evaluation; low self-concept, self-esteem, self-efficacy, and locus of control; perfectionism; and narcissism and shame.

This chapter examines the construct of anxiety in greater detail and reviews the various diagnoses within the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR) of the American Psychiatric Association, which included anxiety as a central feature of the disorder. These include generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia/social anxiety disorder, specific phobia, panic disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. It briefly examines the issues related to categorical versus dimensional conceptualizations of mental disorders, and how these disorders are classified, their defining features and their commonalities and differences. It shows that comorbidity, the co-occurrence of two or more disorders, is very common, and that high rates of comorbidity point to the possible artificiality of categorical classifications of psychological disorders. Depression and its various manifestations (e.g., dysthymia and major depression) are common comorbid conditions with the anxiety disorders. The anxiety disorders in the DSM in the context of the characteristics of music performance anxiety are reviewed.

Anxiety disorders have the highest prevalence of any group of mental disorders. This chapter primarily focuses on three of these anxiety disorders: generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, and separation anxiety disorder. These three anxiety disorders have shared characteristics, are often comorbid, can continue into adulthood, and are predictors of other adulthood anxiety disorders. In schools, where many children and adolescents spend large quantities of time, anxiety can hinder academic performance, inhibit social relationships, and impact other important areas of functioning. Anxiety disorders in children or adolescents should be assessed using tools with empirical support and should include information triangulated from several sources. Treatment should cater to the level of need, such as cognitive-behavior therapy with individuals or groups. Collaborating with teachers, parents, and other community members is important for addressing anxiety thoroughly. A case example portrays these aspects of anxiety disorders in school-age youth.