“Simmering Pressure”: How Systemic Stress Impacts Graduate Student Mental Health

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadine S. Bekkouche ◽  
Richard F. Schmid ◽  
Saul Carliner
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Graduate Student ◽  
Student Mental Health ◽  
Systemic Stress

scholarly journals A longitudinal study of mental wellbeing in students that transition into PhD study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Damian Scarf ◽  
Taylor Winter ◽  
Benjamin Riordan ◽  
John Hunter ◽  
Karen Tustin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Graduate Student ◽  
Bayesian Regression ◽  
Mental Wellbeing ◽  
Mental Health Crisis ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Student Mental Health ◽  
Important Message

Journal editorials, career features, and the popular press, commonly talk of a graduate student mental health crisis. To date, studies on graduate student mental health have employed cross-sectional designs, limiting any causal conclusions regarding the relationship between graduate student and mental health. Here, we present the first longitudinal study on mental health in PhD students. Data were drawn from a longitudinal study of undergraduate students in New Zealand, allowing us to compare students who did, and did not, transition into PhD study following the completion of their undergraduate degree. Using multilevel Bayesian regression, we detected a 0.09 standard deviation decrease in mental health for students who enter PhD study. This finding is orders of magnitude smaller than one might expect based on previous cross-sectional research and provide an important message; that poor mental health is not an inevitable consequence of graduate study.

scholarly journals Positive factors related to graduate student mental health

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Susan T. Charles ◽  
Melissa M. Karnaze ◽  
Frances M. Leslie
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Graduate Student ◽  
Student Mental Health

scholarly journals A Longitudinal Study of Mental Wellbeing in Students in Aotearoa New Zealand Who Transitioned Into PhD Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taylor Winter ◽  
Benjamin C. Riordan ◽  
John A. Hunter ◽  
Karen Tustin ◽  
Megan Gollop ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Graduate Student ◽  
Mental Wellbeing ◽  
Graduate Study ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Student Mental Health ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand

Journal editorials, career features, and the popular press commonly talk of a graduate student mental health crisis. To date, studies on graduate student mental health have employed cross-sectional designs, limiting any causal conclusions regarding the relationship between entry into graduate study and mental health. Here, we draw on data from a longitudinal study of undergraduate students in Aotearoa New Zealand, allowing us to compare participants who did, and did not, transition into PhD study following the completion of their undergraduate degree. Using multilevel Bayesian regression, we identified a difference in mental wellbeing between those who entered PhD study and those who did not. This difference, however, was largely due to those not entering PhD study displaying an increase in mental wellbeing. Participants that entered PhD study displayed a small decrease in mental wellbeing, with the posterior distribution of the simple effect heavily overlapping zero. This latter finding was orders of magnitude smaller than one might expect based on previous cross-sectional research and provides an important message; that a marked drop in mental health is not an inevitable consequence of entering graduate study.

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