Assessing Mental Health and Emotional Well-Being in Tunisian Musicians
A. Aloui, I. Kacem, N. Ganoun, A. chouchane, E. Toulgui, M. Bouhoula, M. Makhloufi, H. Kalboussi, O. El Maalel, S. ChattiIntroduction
Musicians are exposed to unique stressors related to artistic practice, performances, and professional demands. These pressures can impact their mental health and emotional well-being. Understanding musicians’ psychological status is essential for developing appropriate support strategies.
Objectives
To describe the mental health status of the musicians and its characteristics
Methods
This is a cross-sectional study among music academy students from the Music Institute of Sousse and Orchestra Musicians. A self-administrated questionnaire was distributed either manually or via e-mail to collect information about the personal and occupational history of participants. The mentel health was assesed by the the mental component score (MCS-12) of the the Short Form Survey SF-12.
Results
Eighty-one questionnaires were included. The age of musicians ranged from 18 to 62 years (mean 25.19,±8.534).The sample consists of 45 men (56.2%) and 35 women (43.8%) with a sex ratio of 1.28. Among 81 musicians, 35(44%) were orchestra musicians, 21(26%) were academy students from different classes starting 1st year to 2nd master degree class and 25(31%) had both statuses. Most of the participants were string musicians 62 (76.6%) followed by 7wind/brass musicians (8.6%) 7 percussion musicians (8.6%) and 5 keyboard musicians (6.2%).The mean MCS12 in our study population was 45.22 (10.23SD) with scores ranging from14.59 to 58.74. Results have revealed that 23 musicians (28.39%) had an MCS-12 lower than the reference value. Male musicians had a better MCS-12 mean compared to female musicians with a slight difference between academy students and orchestra musicians . Keyboard musicians had the lowest MCS-12 mean (39.97, 14.20 SD) which is a score underneath the reference value indicating in this case a low mental health functioning. Percussionists had the highest MCS-12 mean indicating better health functioning in comparison with other instruments.
Conclusions
Mental health issues among musicians represent a significant concern, reflecting both occupational stressors and creative demands. Targeted preventive strategies and supportive interventions are essential to promote psychological well-being in this population.
Disclosure of Interest
None Declared