Music performance anxiety and restrictive dietary behaviors: a moderated serial mediation model

Working in high-evaluation and competitive stage environments, music performers are prone to anxiety and physical-cognitive biases that are associated with maladaptive Restrictive Dietary Behaviors. Existing studies have not systematically examined the psychological correlates and protective boundary conditions of this association. Based on the Transactional Theory of Stress and Coping, this cross-sectional study examined the serial mediating roles of Multidimensional Perfectionism and Body Image Concern, as well as the moderating role of Trait Mindfulness, in the association between Music Performance Anxiety and Restrictive Dietary Behaviors, so as to provide theoretical and practical references for the psychological support and eating-health management of music performers. A total of 723 valid samples were collected from college music students and professional music practitioners in eastern China via anonymous online questionnaires. Participants completed scales measuring Music Performance Anxiety, Multidimensional Perfectionism, Body Image Concern, Restrictive Dietary Behaviors, and Trait Mindfulness. SPSS 26.0 and Mplus 8.3 were used to conduct common method bias test, reliability and validity analysis, correlation analysis, as well as serial mediation and moderation effect tests. (1) Music Performance Anxiety significantly positively predicted Restrictive Dietary Behaviors; (2) Multidimensional Perfectionism and Body Image Concern independently mediated the relationship between Music Performance Anxiety and Restrictive Dietary Behaviors; (3) a significant serial mediating effect existed via the path of Multidimensional Perfectionism to Body Image Concern; (4) Trait Mindfulness significantly and negatively moderated two of the three examined pathways (the direct Music Performance Anxiety to Restrictive Dietary Behaviors path, and the Body Image Concern to Restrictive Dietary Behaviors path); the moderating effect on the Multidimensional Perfectionism to Restrictive Dietary Behaviors path was in the same direction but did not reach statistical significance; (5) full measurement invariance between university students and professional musicians was not supported, and the two subgroups differed significantly in their mean levels of Music Performance Anxiety, Multidimensional Perfectionism, and Body Image Concern, indicating the pooled associations above should be interpreted with this heterogeneity in mind. Music Performance Anxiety is associated with higher Restrictive Dietary Behaviors, with this association statistically accounted for in part by individuals’ Multidimensional Perfectionism and Body Image Concern; Trait Mindfulness is associated with a weaker expression of this pattern. Given the cross-sectional design, these findings should be read as evidence of association rather than of a confirmed causal or temporal sequence. The results nonetheless point to Trait Mindfulness as a candidate protective psychological factor for music performers and offer preliminary ideas for psychological support and healthy-behavior management for art practitioners, to be tested more directly in future longitudinal and experimental work.