Musician occupational and financial stress and mental health burden

Abstract

Popular (i.e., nonclassical) musicians have higher rates of depression, anxiety, and alcohol misuse than the general population. In this study, occupational and financial stresses were hypothesized to be associated with depression, anxiety, and alcohol misuse in popular musicians. An online cross-sectional survey was sent to a sample of popular musicians who had received mental health services in the preceding 2 years ( n = 655). Validated measures were used to represent the key constructs. A total of 317 musicians (48.4%) completed the survey; 45.4% endorsed significant occupational stress and 81% rated their financial stress as high or overwhelming. Over 36% reported moderate to severe depression, 33.5% expressed similar levels of anxiety, and 65.4% screened positive for alcohol misuse. Univariate tests showed a strong association between occupational stress and depression (odds ratio [OR] = 3.62; 95% confidence interval [CI] = [2.6, 5.0]) and anxiety (OR = 3.05; 95% CI = [2.2, 4.2]). Financial stress also was associated with depression (OR = 1.90; 95% CI = [1.6, 2.2]) and anxiety (OR = 1.72; 95% CI = [1.5, 2.0]). Multivariate analyses showed statistical associations between both occupational stress and financial stress with depression and anxiety persisting when adjusted for by the other variables. Alcohol misuse was not associated with occupational or financial stress. Occupational and financial stresses are strongly associated with depression and anxiety in popular musicians seeking mental health treatment. Future studies should include musicians not engaged in mental health treatment to determine the generalizability of these findings. More research is needed to identify confounding variables associated with musician occupational and financial stress and alcohol misuse.