Effects of Exposure in Computer-Assisted Virtual Environments on Vocalists’ Performance Anxiety: A Quasi-Experimental Study

As the use of virtual reality exposure training in treating various anxiety disorders including music performance anxiety increases, it is becoming more important to understand what components of virtual reality programs affect the effectiveness of the training. Thus, this study examines how various attributes of an exposure training program in a computer-assisted virtual environment affect vocalists’ music performance anxiety. This study also explores how different attributes of virtual reality programs affect five experiential dimensions of vocalists’ music performance anxiety. A quasi-experimental (pre- and post-exposure) design study exposes eighteen adult professional vocalists and those training to become professional vocalists with previous public performance experience to virtual performance situations with varying attributes. The results demonstrate that exposure training in the virtual environment significantly reduces the participants’ music performance anxiety. The results also demonstrate that different attributes of the programs affect the sensory, affective, cognitive, behavioral, and relational dimensions of the participants’ music performance anxiety differently. The insights the findings provide for the development of virtual reality exposure training programs and digital therapeutic applications for music performance anxiety and other types of anxiety and disorders are discussed.