Derrington 2012 thesis.pdf - Anglia Ruskin Research Online

The data had to be accepted and viewed with these issues in mind. However, this
method was still the most effective means for data collection and encouraged honesty
as far as possible.
9.3.3.1 Self-reporting anxiety
The results from the BAI showed that anxiety was not alleviated by music therapy
and in some cases was exacerbated, but many students seemed to conceal their
anxiety. There were not enough covariates in the model to predict anxiety with any
level of accuracy (6.2.4) and measuring anxiety in young people was difficult (6.2.2
and 6.3.2). The lack of accuracy in studies which measure anxiety in children and
adolescents was highlighted by Dadds, Perrin and Yule (1998).
In this study, there was potential for students to tend to the norm and opt for either
sometimes or often, rather than never or always. Students might have preferred to tick
one of these two middle options as it was easier 54 . However, this reaction was mostly
apparent in The Centre School students’ results and could be due to a defence system.
The only way for some students to survive is to not show weakness or what could be
considered as weakness which would have been more evident had they answered with
either never or always.
It is as if some of the students need to adopt an armour to protect them from some
feelings such as anxiety. In music therapy sessions students often talk about the
adrenalin of fights, show me scars and bruises and claim nothing hurts as if they are
immune to pain. Their focus on strength and invulnerability serves to impress, while
they suppress any painful feelings. The results from group B, who showed positive
scores before they began music therapy, revealed this. Anxiety can be deep-rooted
and go undetected before therapeutic intervention.
If CVC students generally achieved greater self-awareness as the results from the
BSCI showed (6.2.1), perhaps they were more aware of and able to understand their
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
&% !The hypothesis of one study, which sought to understand why people preferred the
middle option in surveys and showed that 68% tended to the norm, was that it
involved less mental effort (Shaw et al., 2000).
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