Front & Backstage: Schema Mode Patterns & Resilience in Music Students

Talk/Poster & Discussion - Research Project Presentation in Collaboration with Zürich University of the Arts (Prof. Hildebrandt)

Front & Backstage: Schema Mode Patterns, Coping Profiles, and Resilience in Music Students

Abstract:

Musicians face unique psychological demands throughout training and professional practice. High performance pressure, perfectionism, self-criticism, and challenging interpersonal dynamics can contribute to stress, performance anxiety, and other mental health challenges. While schema modes-recurring patterns of emotions, thoughts, and behaviors arising from early maladaptive experiences-are well-studied in clinical populations, their role in musicians remains largely unexplored.

This study investigates schema mode presence in 46 music students from the Zurich University of the Arts and the Basel Music Academy. Participants completed the Short Schema Mode Inventory, a musician-specific coping scale (HIL), and open-ended questions about self-talk and complaints related to musical practice. Analyses included effect size comparisons with normative data, correlations between schema modes and coping, cluster analysis to identify psychological…