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Mental health

Prevalence of Mental Health Concerns Among Early-Career Researchers

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

Early-career researchers (ECRs) are facing significant mental health concerns, with a staggering 28.9% meeting the criteria for at least one mental health syndrome or symptom. A systematic review and meta-analysis published on osf.io reveals the extent of this issue, highlighting the need for structural reforms and evidence-based support services. The study analyzed 139 studies and four primary databases, involving 128,684 ECRs, and found that depression, generalized anxiety disorder, and eating disorders were the most prevalent mental health concerns.

Key Takeaways:

  • The pooled prevalence estimates indicated that 28.9% of ECRs met the criteria for at least one mental health syndrome or symptom, with 28.9% meeting criteria for depression, 29.1% for generalized anxiety disorder, and 24.9% for an eating disorder.
  • Complementing prevalence estimates, analyses of normalized severity scores indicated that ECRs experienced mild degrees of depression, anxiety, and moderate degrees of stress, with severity estimates for eating disorders and suicidal ideation not exceeding clinical cut-offs.
  • Moderator analyses indicated that the type of syndrome and the type of measurement scale explained the largest part of the variance in both the prevalence and the severity models, with most individual-level factors, such as gender, ethnicity, academic discipline, country, career stage, social support, and supervisor relationship, not significantly moderating prevalence or severity estimates.
  • Age showed a small, but significant association with lower prevalence, with higher study quality and random or full sampling also associated with lower severity and prevalence levels of psychological distress.

Statistics:

  • 28.9% of ECRs met the criteria for at least one mental health syndrome or symptom (95% confidence interval 25.3-32.7%).
  • 28.9% of ECRs met criteria for depression (95% confidence interval 25.4-32.5%).
  • 29.1% of ECRs met criteria for generalized anxiety disorder (95% confidence interval 25.4-32.9%).
  • 24.9% of ECRs met criteria for an eating disorder (95% confidence interval 20.6-29.4%).
  • 21.4% of ECRs met criteria for alcohol abuse (95% confidence interval 17.2-26.0%).
  • 18.2% of ECRs engaged in nonsuicidal self-injury (95% confidence interval 14.2-22.6%).
  • 17.5% of ECRs reported suicidal ideation (95% confidence interval 14.2-21.0%).

Sources:

  • osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/eh9d6_v1 (preprint abstract)

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