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We report the major findings from the psychosocial questionnaire component of a cross-sectional population survey of the musicians in Australia's eight full-time professional symphonic and pit orchestras. The response rate was 70% (n = 377). Female musicians reported significantly more trait anxiety, music performance anxiety, social anxiety, and other forms of anxiety and depression than male musicians. The youngest musicians (<30 years) were significantly more anxious compared with the oldest musicians (51+). The youngest female musicians were most affected by music performance anxiety. Music performance anxiety was lowest for the older musicians (51+ years). Thirty-three per cent of musicians may meet criteria for a diagnosis of social phobia. Twenty-two per cent answered in the affirmative to a question screening for post-traumatic stress disorder. Thirtytwo per cent returned a positive depression screen; this subgroup had higher scores on the anxiety measures. Linear regression analysis identified the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-T), the Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN), the Anxiety and Depression Detector (ADD) and age as independent predictors of music performance anxiety severity. Significant numbers of musicians drank alcohol in a manner outside the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) alcohol guidelines (2009); only 6% were current smokers. This study has identified a significant pattern of anxiety, depression and health behaviours that require attention in occupational health and safety policies and programmes for this workforce.

Boys diagnosed with ADHD by specialist pediatricians and stabilized on medication were randomly assigned to a 20-session yoga group (n = 11) or a control group (cooperative activities; n = 8). Boys were assessed pre- and post-intervention on the Conners' Parent and Teacher Rating Scales-Revised: Long (CPRS-R:L & CTRS-R:L; Conners, 1997), the Test of Variables of Attention (TOVA; Greenberg, Cormna, & Kindschi, 1997), and the Motion Logger Actigraph. Data were analyzed using one-way repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). Significant improvements from pre-test to post-test were found for the yoga, but not for the control group on five subscales of the Conners' Parents Rating Scales (CPRS): Oppositional, Global Index Emotional Lability, Global Index Total, Global Index Restless/Impulsive and ADHD Index. Significant improvements from pre-test to post-test were found for the control group, but not the yoga group on three CPRS subscales: Hyperactivity, Anxious/Shy, and Social Problems. Both groups improved significantly on CPRS Perfectionism, DSM-IV Hyperactive/ Impulsive, and DSM-IV Total. For the yoga group, positive change from pre- to post-test on the Conners' Teacher Rating Scales (CTRS) was associated with the number of sessions attended on the DSM-IV Hyperactive-Impulsive subscale and with a trend on DSM-IV Inattentive subscale. Those in the yoga group who engaged in more home practice showed a significant improvement on TOVA Response Time Variability with a trend on the ADHD score, and greater improvements on the CTRS Global Emotional Lability subscale. Results from the Motion Logger Actigraph were inconclusive. Although these data do not provide strong support for the use of yoga for ADHD, partly because the study was under-powered, they do suggest that yoga may have merit as a complementary treatment for boys with ADHD already stabilized on medication, particularly for its evening effect when medication effects are absent. Yoga remains an investigational treatment, but this study supports further research into its possible uses for this population. These findings need to be replicated on larger groups with a more intensive supervised practice program.

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