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Systematic review and meta-analysis of depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation among Ph.D. students

Satinsky, Emily N., Kimura, Tomoki, Kiang, Mathew V., Abebe, Rediet, Cunningham, Scott, Lee, Hedwig, Lin, Xiaofei, Liu, Cindy H., Rudan, Igor, Sen, Srijan, Tomlinson, Mark, Yaver, Miranda, Tsai, Alexander C.·2021·Scientific Reports
DOI 10.1038/s41598-021-93687-7PMC PMC8277873
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Abstract

University administrators and mental health clinicians have raised concerns about depression and anxiety among Ph.D. students, yet no study has systematically synthesized the available evidence in this area. After searching the literature for studies reporting on depression, anxiety, and/or suicidal ideation among Ph.D. students, we included 32 articles. Among 16 studies reporting the prevalence of clinically significant symptoms of depression across 23,469 Ph.D. students, the pooled estimate of the proportion of students with depression was 0.24 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.18–0.31; I 2 = 98.75%). In a meta-analysis of the nine studies reporting the prevalence of clinically significant symptoms of anxiety across 15,626 students, the estimated proportion of students with anxiety was 0.17 (95% CI, 0.12–0.23; I 2 = 98.05%). We conclude that depression and anxiety are highly prevalent among Ph.D. students. Data limitations precluded our ability to obtain a pooled estimate of suicidal ideation prevalence. Programs that systematically monitor and promote the mental health of Ph.D. students are urgently needed.

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Figure 1 Flowchart of included articles.
Figure 1 Flowchart of included articles.CC BY · PubMed Central
Figure 2 Pooled estimate of the proportion of Ph.D. students with clinically significant symptoms of depression.
Figure 2 Pooled estimate of the proportion of Ph.D. students with clinically significant symptoms of depression.CC BY · PubMed Central
Figure 3 Pooled estimate of the proportion of Ph.D. students with clinically significant symptoms of anxiety.
Figure 3 Pooled estimate of the proportion of Ph.D. students with clinically significant symptoms of anxiety.CC BY · PubMed Central

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Metadata

Authors
Satinsky, E. N., Kimura, T., Kiang, M. V., Abebe, R., Cunningham, S., Lee, H., Lin, X., Liu, C. H., Rudan, I., Sen, S., Tomlinson, M., Yaver, M., & Tsai, A. C.
Venue
Scientific Reports
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2021-07-13
Volume
11
Issue
1
ISSN
2045-2322
DOI
10.1038/s41598-021-93687-7
PMC
PMC8277873
Cited by
223
References
16
Language
en
Licence
Funders
Sullivan Family Foundation

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Satinsky, E. N., Kimura, T., Kiang, M. V., Abebe, R., Cunningham, S., Lee, H., Lin, X., Liu, C. H., Rudan, I., Sen, S., Tomlinson, M., Yaver, M., & Tsai, A. C. (2021). Systematic review and meta-analysis of depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation among Ph.D. students. Scientific Reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-93687-7