‘It made me feel helpless because I couldn’t control anything’: Occupational stress and well-being experiences of conservatoire music students

Abstract

Conservatoire music students experience a range of demands including performance, academic, and interpersonal demands. If not effectively managed, demands may lead to stress and negative well-being outcomes. This qualitative study explored conservatoire music students’ experiences of occupational stress and well-being, informed by a transactional stress theory. Six conservatoire music students were purposively selected to participate in semi-structured interviews. Participants discussed two stressful events: one perceived positively and a second perceived negatively. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was adopted and five themes developed: (a) Performance Demands; (b) Organisational Demands; (c) Relationship Demands; (d) Academic Demands; and (e) Multiple Demands. Participants commonly appraised demands as a threat. A smaller number of challenge or benefit appraisals were reported, with few harm or loss appraisals. Key underlying properties of stress appraisal were self and other comparison, preparation, and novelty. Participants highlighted the personal resources, psychological skills and problem-solving, and the organisational resource of social support to manage stressful experiences. Well-being outcomes related to stress appraisals. This study provides insight into the intra-individual processes related to occupational stress and well-being of conservatoire music students. Findings suggest interventions targeting the conservatoire culture and curriculum need exploring to create a positive learning culture and support students to cope with demands.

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