Psychosocial change across a drum corps season

Abstract

Drum corps is a marching arts (MA) activity that combines movement, music, and visual performance. Education in the MA emphasizes performance, endurance, and group cohesion. However, research on the psychosocial effects of participation in MA education is rare. In the current study, we measured resilience, self-efficacy, goal orientation, and flow, over the course of a season of drum corps, hypothesizing significant change in these constructs. A total of 74 young men ( Mage = 19.16) from a world-class drum corps participated in an online longitudinal study involving five surveys with repeated measures across their 2017 competitive marching season. We found a statistically significant curvilinear change over time in general self-efficacy, marching self-efficacy, mastery goal orientation, and flow, but no pattern of change in ego goal orientation. The pattern of change was similar for all outcomes: participants first declined, and then rebounded up, but only some outcomes returned to baseline or higher levels. Findings may inform MA participants and educators about dynamic psychosocial change throughout a season for which they should be prepared, as well as future research on MA.