The European Health Psychologist

Work-related psychoso-cial hazards have been broadly defined as aspects of work, inclu-ding the social and orga-nisational context, with the potential to cause psychological or physical harm (Cox & Griffiths, 2005). Psychosocial hazards include job content, sense of control, workload, work schedule, environment, and organisational culture and relationships (Leka & Jain, 2010). Just as workplaces can vary widely, so too can the potential risks, with workers in some occupations reporting worse than average physical health, psychological well-being and job satisfaction (Johnson et al., 2005). One occupation with unique psychosocial risks is that of the professional musician. For musicians, irregular work schedules, unregulated environments and financial insecurity can result in high levels of stress (Foxman & Burgel, 2006). Playing-related musculoskeletal disorders (PRMDs), or the problems with muscles, tendons, ligaments and joints related to playing a musical instrument, are also commonly experienced by musicians. Problems reported can include pain, weakness, numbness, and other symptoms that interfere with the musicians ’ ability to play an instrument to their usual standard (Zaza, 1998). The prevalance of PRMDs in adult musicians varies by population, instrument, music type and individual, and ranges from 39- 87 % in classical musicians (Zaza, 1998) and 26 to 93 % in pianist