BACKGROUND: The mental health of doctoral students is a matter of concern, and several variables appear to be associated with the state of their mental health. However, there have been no studies on the population of doctoral students in Spain to date using validated instruments. METHOD: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted to assess mental health in 1,018 doctoral students. The impact of personal, academic, psychological, and social/organisational variables on their mental health was assessed. RESULTS: Between 50% and 60% of the sample might be experiencing a common psychological disorder, while 18.8% of the sample might be experiencing passive suicidal ideation. In addition, using binary logistic regression, significant predictors of negative mental health were identified, including: sociodemographic variables (being female); academic variables (longer time spent in a doctoral programme); psychological variables (lower life satisfaction; greater interference and less clarity about negative emotions); and social and organisational variables (greater fear of losing tuition rights, lower social support, and greater interference of academic work with personal life). CONCLUSIONS: Doctoral students need measures to remedy and prevent mental health issues based on improving self-care and emotion regulation, promoting social support at university, and reducing the pressure of losing tuition rights among final-year students.
Mental Health , Humans , Female , Male , Cross-Sectional Studies , Adult , Education, Graduate , Students/psychology , Students/statistics & numerical data , Mental Disorders/epidemiology , Mental Disorders/psychology , Spain , Suicidal Ideation , Social Support , Young Adult
Background: The mental health of doctoral students is a matter of concern, and several variables appear to be associated with the state of their mental health. However, there have been no studies on the population of doctoral students in Spain to date using validated instruments. Method: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted to assess mental health in 1,018 doctoral students. The impact of personal, academic, psychological, and social/organisational variables on their mental health was assessed. Results: Between 50% and 60% of the sample might be experiencing a common psychological disorder, while 18.8% of the sample might be experiencing passive suicidal ideation. In addition, using binary logistic regression, significant predictors of negative mental health were identified, including: sociodemographic variables (being female); academic variables (longer time spent in a doctoral programme); psychological variables (lower life satisfaction; greater interference and less clarity about negative emotions); and social and organisational variables (greater fear of losing tuition rights, lower social support, and greater interference of academic work with personal life). Conclusions: Doctoral students need measures to remedy and prevent mental health issues based on improving self-care and emotion regulation, promoting social support at university, and reducing the pressure of losing tuition rights among final-year students.(AU)
Antecedentes: La salud mental de los estudiantes de doctorado es preocupante, y diversas variables parecen asociarse con ella. No obstante, no existen hasta la fecha estudios sobre estudiantes de doctorado en España con instrumentos validados. Método: se efectuó un estudio observacional en 1018 estudiantes de doctorado. Analizamos el impacto de variables personales, académicas, psicológicas y organizacionales en su salud mental. Resultados: Entre el 50% y el 60% de la muestra podría padecer un trastorno psicológico común, mientras que el 18,8% de la muestra tendría ideación suicida pasiva. Mediante regresión logística binaria, se obtuvieron como predictores significativos del estatus negativo de salud mental variables sociodemográficas(ser mujer); académicas (más tiempo en el doctorado); psicológicas (menor satisfacción con la vida; mayor interferencia y menor claridad sobre las emociones); y organizacionales (mayor temor a perder la permanencia, menor apoyo social, y mayor interferencia del trabajo académico en la vida personal). Conclusiones: Es necesaria la puesta en marcha de medidas para la reparación y prevención de la salud mental en los doctorandos, basadas en mejorar el autocuidado y regulación emocional de los estudiantes; la promoción del apoyosocial en la universidad, y la reducción de la presión asociada a la permanencia en últimos cursos.(AU)
Humans , Male , Female , Mental Health , Students/psychology , Risk Factors , Academic Performance , Personality , Psychology
