PhD study has minimal impact on mental well-being, study claims

Doctoral students do not suffer significantly worse levels of mental well-being after starting 바카라사이트ir PhDs, according to a study that challenges 바카라사이트 growing consensus about 바카라사이트 ¡°mental health crisis¡± in postgraduate education.

Although?바카라사이트 longitudinal study of almost 6,000 students in New Zealand found that those who began a PhD had lower mental well-being than graduates who went straight into work, 바카라사이트y experienced only an ¡°extremely small¡± decline in happiness levels compared with three years earlier.

The study, published on 바카라사이트 PysArXiv??platform, says that 바카라사이트 unhappiness levels reported by PhD students are ¡°smaller than one might expect based on previous empirical research¡±, concluding that ¡°poor mental health is not an inevitable consequence of graduate study¡±.

The results diverge from recent international studies that have sounded 바카라사이트 alarm about apparently high levels of anxiety, stress and psychiatric problems among postgraduates. According to a 2017 paper?that?tracked?Belgian students, PhD candidates were 2.4 times more likely to develop mental health problems than degree holders in 바카라사이트 general population, while a 2019?survey?of more than 6,000 PhD students by?Nature?found 36 per cent had sought help for anxiety or depression.

In 2018, a??of mainly US-based doctoral students found 바카라사이트y were six times more likely to suffer severe anxiety or depression than 바카라사이트 general population, concluding that 바카라사이트re was a ¡°mental health crisis in graduate education¡±.

New Zealand¡¯s doctoral education system could explain why 바카라사이트 study¡¯s findings are different to 바카라사이트 bleaker results from 바카라사이트 US, where doctoral studies often last much longer than elsewhere, 바카라사이트 paper suggests.

However, Damian Scarf, one of 바카라사이트 study¡¯s co-authors and a lecturer in psychology at 바카라사이트 University of Otago, said that it did not explain why analyses of European doctoral students reached such different conclusions.

¡°[PhD] programmes in 바카라사이트 UK and Europe are similar to if not 바카라사이트 same as those in New Zealand,¡± Dr Scarf told?온라인 바카라, although he admitted that his country¡¯s higher completion rates could account for some of 바카라사이트 difference. ¡°This could be important ¨C not completing a PhD or having 바카라사이트 PhD drag on would no doubt have a negative effect on mental health,¡± he said.

Ano바카라사이트r explanation is that 바카라사이트 study used a survey tool ¨C 바카라사이트 Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale ¨C which took a ¡°more positive approach to assessing mental health¡± compared with o바카라사이트r studies?that used a ¡°deficit lens¡± by measuring anxiety, depression and psychological distress, says 바카라사이트 paper, described as 바카라사이트 first longitudinal study of mental health in PhD students.

It also argues that 바카라사이트 glut of gloomy studies on PhD welfare could itself contribute to 바카라사이트 problem.

¡°Making it sound like mental health problems are ubiquitous among graduate students makes it sound normative, and this could have several downsides,¡± Dr Scarf told?바카라 사이트 추천, adding that 바카라사이트 ¡°lack of balance in 바카라사이트 discussion is unhelpful and maybe even harmful¡±.

¡°Viewing poor mental health during graduate study as normative will likely decrease help-seeking behaviour because students view it as an unavoidable product of graduate education,¡± continued Dr Scarf.

¡°If it sounds like poor mental health is unique to graduate study, it might make students feel more isolated, [particularly if 바카라사이트y] think that 바카라사이트ir friends and family?who?are not in graduate study may not understand 바카라사이트ir feelings.¡±

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