Mavrogalou-Foti Alkistis P, Kambouri Maria A, Çili Soljana
Department of Psychology and Human Development, Institute of Education, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London, London, United Kingdom.
Front Psychol. 2024 Oct 9;15:1437819. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1437819. eCollection 2024.
The process of a doctorate degree has been implicated in the onset and exacerbation of mental health problems among doctoral students. Previous studies have suggested that the student-supervisor relationship may predict emotional wellbeing and mental health outcomes in doctoral students in the UK. However, these studies were conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic and often used unstandardized measures to investigate supervisory styles.
The present study was part of the Better Together project, a wellbeing initiative for doctoral students in the UK. It explored the predictive ability of aspects of the student-supervisor relationship with regards to doctoral students' mental health outcomes. The sample consisted of 141 students doing a research-based doctorate degree in the UK. The survey included demographic questions and questionnaires assessing supervisory styles, the discrepancy between actual and preferred supervisory relationship, depression, anxiety, and stress.
A large proportion of participants fell in the severe and extremely severe categories in the depression, anxiety, and stress sub-scales. Multiple regression analyses indicated that both supervisory styles and discrepancy significantly predicted students' mental health outcomes. More specifically, higher scores in the uncertain supervisory style, which is characterized by indecisiveness and ambiguity, were linked with higher scores in depression, anxiety, and stress.
The findings provided new insights concerning the aspects of the student-supervisor relationship that are related to the mental health issues of doctoral students in the UK. They have important implications for future research and supervision practice.
攻读博士学位的过程与博士生心理健康问题的产生和加剧有关。先前的研究表明，在英国，学生与导师的关系可能预示着博士生的情绪健康和心理健康状况。然而，这些研究是在新冠疫情之前进行的，并且常常使用非标准化的方法来调查指导方式。
本研究是“携手共进更好”项目的一部分，该项目是一项针对英国博士生的健康倡议。它探讨了学生与导师关系的各个方面对博士生心理健康状况的预测能力。样本包括141名在英国攻读基于研究的博士学位的学生。该调查包括人口统计学问题以及评估指导方式、实际与期望的指导关系之间的差异、抑郁、焦虑和压力的问卷。
很大一部分参与者在抑郁、焦虑和压力子量表中处于重度和极重度类别。多元回归分析表明，指导方式和差异都能显著预测学生的心理健康状况。更具体地说，以优柔寡断和含糊不清为特征的不确定指导方式得分越高，与抑郁、焦虑和压力得分越高相关。
这些发现为英国博士生心理健康问题相关的学生与导师关系方面提供了新的见解。它们对未来的研究和指导实践具有重要意义。
