Krieger Virginia, Cañete-Massé Cristina, Amador-Campos Juan Antonio, Peró-Cebollero Maribel, Feliu-Torruella María, Pérez-González Alba, Jarne-Esparcia Adolfo José, Triadó-Ivern Xavier María, Guàrdia-Olmos Joan
Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Barcelona, 08035 Barcelona, Spain.
Department of Social Psychology and Quantitative Psychology, University of Barcelona, 08035 Barcelona, Spain.
Eur J Investig Health Psychol Educ. 2025 Aug 17;15(8):164. doi: 10.3390/ejihpe15080164.
Mental health issues among PhD students are rising, a trend believed to be driven by academic and social challenges.
A total of 1265 doctorate students from a large university in Barcelona, Spain (739 women; 414 men; 112 marked other options), with a mean age of 32.36 years (SD = 8.20, range: 23-67), were evaluated by means of standardized instruments.
Totals of 40.6% and 46.5% of the sample exceeded the cut-off point for anxiety and depression symptoms, and 57.7% for life satisfaction. The proportion of females exceeding the cut-off point was significantly higher than that of males for both anxiety (women: 43.8%, men: 34.5%) and depression (women: 49.3%, men: 39.8%), but not for life satisfaction (women: 57.6%, men: 58.4%). Arts and Humanities PhD students' disciplines reported higher anxiety and depression scores than those in Social Sciences, Experimental Sciences and Mathematics, and Health Sciences, respectively, while Social Sciences students showed higher life satisfaction and mentoring support than the other groups. Depression scores were significant predictors of life satisfaction across all doctoral programs.
These findings highlight the importance of mentoring in supporting doctoral students' mental health and life satisfaction and can also inform policies in educational institutions, given that PhD students experiencing psychopathological disorders are at a higher risk of academic failure and dropout.
博士生中的心理健康问题呈上升趋势，这一趋势被认为是由学术和社会挑战所驱动。
对来自西班牙巴塞罗那一所大型大学的1265名博士生（739名女性；414名男性；112人选择了其他选项）进行评估，他们的平均年龄为32.36岁（标准差=8.20，范围：23 - 67岁），评估采用标准化工具。
样本中分别有40.6%和46.5%的人焦虑和抑郁症状超过临界值，57.7%的人生活满意度超过临界值。在焦虑（女性：43.8%，男性：34.5%）和抑郁（女性：49.3%，男性：39.8%）方面，超过临界值的女性比例显著高于男性，但在生活满意度方面并非如此（女性：57.6%，男性：58.4%）。人文博士学科的学生焦虑和抑郁得分分别高于社会科学、实验科学与数学以及健康科学学科的学生，而社会科学专业的学生生活满意度和导师支持度高于其他群体。在所有博士项目中，抑郁得分是生活满意度的显著预测因素。
这些发现凸显了导师在支持博士生心理健康和生活满意度方面的重要性，鉴于患有精神病理障碍的博士生学业失败和辍学风险更高，这些发现也可为教育机构的政策提供参考。
