Purpose

Rising rates of anxiety and depression and the varied costs of these conditions indicate a clear need to create learning environments in which graduate and professional students can more readily thrive. However, the absence of multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary evidence about mental health in graduate education has obscured a clear picture of which populations, contexts and social dynamics merit focused attention and resources. The purpose of this study is therefore to analyze prevalence and risk factors associated with anxiety and depression among a large sample of graduate students, with special attention to how graduate education environments and interactions may be associated with mental health.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper offers the first multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary analysis of depression and anxiety among US graduate and professional students. Using a sample of 20,888 students randomly sampled within 69 universities, the author compares depression and anxiety prevalence among fields of study with hierarchical cluster modeling. Then, using a conceptual framework that links social support, role strain and self-determination theories, the author estimates fixed effects multivariate logistic regressions to measure how depression and anxiety are associated with experiencing racial discrimination, support from friends and family, perceived competitiveness in one’s classes, and comfort speaking with one’s professors about mental health.

Findings

Graduate students who endure frequent racial discrimination have odds of screening positive for depression and anxiety that are 2.3 and 3.0 times higher, respectively, than those who never experience discrimination. Support from family and friends moderates these relationships and perceived competitiveness exacerbates them. LGBTQ students and students who self-report that finances are a struggle or tight also have higher odds of depression and anxiety. Students in the humanities, arts and architecture have significantly higher prevalence of depression and anxiety than the sample as a whole.

Originality/value

The paper offers broadest base of evidence to date about patterns that are usually experienced at the individual level or analyzed institution-by-institution and field-by-field. Specifically, the author identified social dynamics, fields of study and populations where attention to wellbeing may be especially warranted. The conceptual framework and multivariate results clarify how organizational and individual factors in graduate students’ mental health may be intertwined through competitive, discriminatory, or supportive interactions with peers, faculty, family and friends. Findings clarify a need for awareness of the contexts and interactions that graduate students experience as well as individual factors that are associated with student wellbeing.

中文翻译：

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美国研究生心理健康中的歧视、竞争力和支持

目的

不断上升的焦虑和抑郁率以及这些条件的不同成本表明，显然需要创造学习环境，让研究生和专业学生更容易茁壮成长。然而，在研究生教育中缺乏关于心理健康的多机构、多学科证据，模糊了哪些人群、背景和社会动态值得关注和资源的清晰画面。因此，本研究的目的是在大量研究生样本中分析与焦虑和抑郁相关的患病率和危险因素，特别关注研究生教育环境和互动如何与心理健康相关。

设计/方法/方法

本文首次对美国研究生和专业学生的抑郁和焦虑进行了多机构、多学科的分析。作者使用从 69 所大学中随机抽取的 20,888 名学生作为样本，使用层次聚类模型比较了研究领域中的抑郁和焦虑患病率。然后，使用将社会支持、角色压力和自我决定理论联系起来的概念框架，作者估计了固定效应多变量逻辑回归，以衡量抑郁和焦虑与经历种族歧视、朋友和家人的支持、个人竞争力的感知之间的关系。课程，并舒适地与教授谈论心理健康。

发现

与从未经历过歧视的研究生相比，经常忍受种族歧视的研究生抑郁和焦虑筛查呈阳性的几率分别高出 2.3 和 3.0 倍。家人和朋友的支持会缓和这些关系，而感知到的竞争力会加剧它们。LGBTQ 学生和自我报告财务困难或紧张的学生也有更高的抑郁和焦虑几率。人文、艺术和建筑专业的学生抑郁和焦虑的患病率明显高于样本整体。

原创性/价值

这篇论文提供了迄今为止最广泛的证据基础，这些模式通常在个人层面上经历过，或者逐个机构和逐个领域进行分析。具体而言，作者确定了可能特别需要关注福祉的社会动态、研究领域和人群。概念框架和多变量结果阐明了研究生心理健康中的组织和个人因素如何通过与同龄人、教师、家人和朋友的竞争、歧视或支持性互动交织在一起。调查结果阐明了需要了解研究生所经历的环境和互动以及与学生福祉相关的个人因素。