Developing a Screening Tool for Psychological Stress in Musicians: The Lübeck Inventory on Musicians’ Psychological Stress (LIMIT)

OBJECTIVES: Psychological stress concerns many musicians and poses a risk for their mental and physical health. However, there are thus far no instruments that measure psychological stress of musicians in particular. We aimed to fill this gap by developing a questionnaire designed specifically to detect components that increase psychological strain in musicians. METHODS: The Lübecker Inventar für psychischen Stress bei Musizierenden (Lübeck Inventory on Musicians’ Psychological Stress, LIMIT) was developed through consultation with experts from the field. Subsequently, the factorial structure was examined on a sample of N = 602 musicians. Multiple factor extraction methods were compared using model fit criteria to determine an adequate/representative number of factors and items. Reliability and validity of the questionnaire were tested. RESULTS: The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin criterion revealed an excellent sampling adequacy (0.945). Excluding non-fitting items, the final LIMIT is composed of 34 items loading on four factors: “self-efficacy,” “depression,” “time-management,” and “pressure.” The scale reached an excellent reliability (Cronbach’s a = 0.938) and fulfilled validation criteria. CONCLUSIONS: The LIMIT can be a useful screening tool for assessing musician-specific psychological strain, enabling musicians and practitioners to identify stress at an early stage and to seek out support in good time. An English validation is in progress.