Day 12. Graduate Student Mental Health: Lessons from American Economics Departments

Barreira P, Basilico M, Bolotnyy V. Graduate student mental health: Lessons from American economics departments[J]. Harvard Univ, 2018.

Title：
Graduate Student Mental Health: Lessons from American Economics Departments
研究生心理健康：美国经济系的经验教训

Abstract:
We study the mental health of graduate students at Economics PhD programs in the U.S. Using clinically validated surveys, we find that 18% of graduate students experience moderate or severe symptoms of depression and anxiety - more than three times the population average - and 11% report suicidal ideation in a two-week period. The average PhD student reports greater feelings of loneliness than does the average retired American. Only 26% of Economics students report feeling that their work is useful always or most of the time, compared with 70% of Economics faculty and 63% of the working age population. Depression and symptoms of anxiety increase with time in the program: 25% of students in years 5+ of their programs experience moderate or severe symptoms of depression or anxiety compared with 14.5% of first-year students. Many students with significant symptoms of mental distress are not in treatment. We provide recommendations for students and faculty on ways to improve student work conditions, productivity, and mental health.
我们对美国经济学博士研究生的心理健康状况进行了研究。通过临床验证的调查，我们发现18%的研究生经历了中度或重度抑郁和焦虑症状，是人口平均水平的三倍多，11%的研究生在两周内有自杀意念。普通的博士生比普通的退休美国人有更大的孤独感。只有26%的经济学专业的学生认为他们的工作总是有用的，或者大部分时间都有用，相比之下，70%的经济学系的学生和63%的工作年龄段的人认为他们的工作有用。抑郁和焦虑症状随着学习时间的延长而增加：5年级25%的学生出现中度或重度抑郁或焦虑症状，而一年级学生为14.5%。许多有明显精神困扰症状的学生没有接受治疗。我们为学生和教师提供如何改善学生工作条件、生产力和心理健康的建议。

1. Executive Summary
   1.1 Prevalence and Severity of Mental Health Issues
   1.2 Student Experiences in Their Programs
   1.3 Mental Health and Student Experiences
   1.4 Recommendations for Improvement

2. Introduction

3. Background Characteristics

4. Overall Mental Health Takeaways

5. Experiences with Mental Health Issues in Graduate School

6. Comparative Look at Work Experiences

7. Departmental Experiences: A Deeper Look

8. Sexual Harassment

9. Cross Tabulations and Correlations
   （1）Older cohorts of students have worse mental health than younger cohorts.
   高年级的学生的心理健康状况比低年级学生差。
   （2）Of those who say that they would change their area of study, 28% contemplated suicide in the last 2 weeks. 27% of those who said they would not pursue a PhD at all, 24% of those who said they would study at another institution, and 20% who would change their advisers also contemplated suicide in the last 2 weeks. Regardless of the direction of causality, it’s clear that one’s mental health and one’s graduate school experience are closely linked.
   在那些表示要改变学习领域的人中，28%的人在过去两周内打算自杀。27%的人说他们根本不会攻读博士学位，24%的人说他们会在另一个机构学习，20%的人会更换他们的顾问，他们也在过去两周内考虑过自杀。不管因果关系的走向如何，很明显，一个人的心理健康和他在研究生院的经历是紧密相连的。
   （3）The more competitive students think their peers are with each other, the worse their mental health.
   竞争约激烈的学生认为他们的同龄人在一起，他们的心理健康就越差。
   （4）In addition to strong social support, having sources of meaning and usefulness appears to be crucial to mental health. Those who have goals to aspire to, feelings of doing useful work, sense of accomplishment, and opportunities to make a positive impact on their surroundings have better mental health than those who do not. At the same time, when work fatigue and worries negatively affect activities in private life, mental health is worse. Students who have difficulties making ends meet financially are also more likely to be having mental health problems.
   除了强大的社会支持外，有意义和有用的资源似乎对心理健康至关重要。那些追求目标、认为工作的有用、成就感以及有对周围环境产生积极影响的机会的人比那些没有的人心理健康状况更好。同时，当工作疲劳和焦虑消极情绪影响到私人生活活动时，心理健康状况较差。在经济上收支相抵的学生也更有可能出现心理健康问题。
   （5）A student’s advising relationship also appears to be tightly related to his mental health. Students who talk to faculty that care about their success and care about them as a person have better mental health than students who do not.
   学生的指导关系似乎也与他的心理健康密切相关。与关心他们的成功和关心他们作为一个人的教师交谈的学生有更好的心理健康。
   （6）How honest a student can be with his adviser about the difficulties he is experiencing in the program is also correlated with that student’s mental health. Openness on teaching, preparing for the job market, considering non-academic jobs, and reflecting on whether doing the PhD was the right decision are all also correlated with student mental health.
   学生对自己在项目中遇到的困难与导师的诚实程度也与该学生的心理健康有关。教学的开放性、就业市场的准备、考虑非学术性工作以及重新考虑读博士是否是正确的决定都与学生的心理健康有关。

10. Conclusion
    Our survey of 8 graduate departments of Economics establishes several important features of graduate student mental health and its relationship to student experience. A poor state of mental health affects a notable portion of graduate students. Moderate or severe symptoms of depression and anxiety are prevalent among graduate students (18%), with rates that more than triple those of the general population. Over a tenth of students report having suicidal ideation on at least several days over the past two weeks. The average PhD student in our study reports more feelings of loneliness than does the average retired American. Many individuals with significant symptoms of mental distress are not currently in treatment. Although 90 percent of students with moderate or severe symptoms of depression would be expected to have diagnosable clinical disease, only 27% of these students are currently in treatment for depression. Students often feel limited meaning in their work and in their ability to make a positive impact on their community. 19% of economics students feel that they have opportunities to make a positive impact on their community or society, whereas 58% of faculty and 53% of the population report feeling they have these opportunities. 21.5% of women and 13% of men have experienced sexual harassment in their department.
    我们对8个研究生部门经济系的调查确立了研究生心理健康的几个重要特征及其与学生经历的关系。研究生中相当一部分人的心理健康状况很差。研究生中普遍存在中度或重度抑郁和焦虑症状（18%），其发病率是普通人群的三倍以上。超过十分之一的学生报告说，在过去的两周里，至少有几天有过自杀念头。在我们的研究中，普通的博士生比普通的退休美国人有更多的孤独感。许多有明显精神痛苦症状的人目前没有接受治疗。虽然90%有中度或重度抑郁症状的学生预计会有可诊断的临床疾病，但目前只有27%的学生正在接受抑郁治疗。学生在工作和对社区产生积极影响的能力上往往感到意义有限。19%的经济学专业学生认为他们有机会对自己的社区或社会产生积极影响，而58%的教师和53%的人认为他们有这些机会。21.5%的女性和13%的男性在本部门遭受过性骚扰。

Mental health has notable correlates with student experiences. Students in later years are more likely to have high levels of depressive or anxious symptoms. 25% of students in years in years 5+ of their programs experience moderate or severe symptoms of depression and anxiety, compared to 14.5% of first-year students. Students who express higher levels of regret about pursuing a PhD have higher rates of mental health distress. 27% of those who regret pursuing a PhD contemplated suicide in the past two weeks, versus 7% of those who expressed no regrets about graduate school.
心理健康与学生经历显著相关。高年级的学生更可能有高水平的抑郁或焦虑症状。25%的学生在第五年的课程中经历了中度或严重的抑郁和焦虑症状，而第一年的学生只有14.5%。对攻读博士学位表示更高程度后悔的学生心理健康问题的发生率更高。在那些后悔攻读博士学位的人中，有27%的人在过去两周内曾想过自杀，而在那些对研究生院表示不后悔的人中，这一比例为7%。

11. Recommendations
    11.1 Help students hedge against failure.
    11.2 Provide continuous engagement, making clear to students that someone cares about their success in the program.
    11.3 Measure success in different ways to lessen feelings of job insecurity.
    11.4 Communicate with students clearly and frequently.
    11.5 Prioritize and address sexual harassment within your program.
    11.6 Make the coursework years as useful and relevant to the research years as possible.
    11.7 Destigmatize conversations about failures and destigmatize getting help.
    11.8 Create a channel through which faculty can receive constructive feedback on advising.
    11.9 Use the data in this study to empower students and faculty in your department to come up with solutions specific to your community
    11.10 Partner with your university’s counseling center.
    11.11 Faculty Recommendations onWorking with Students Who Are Experiencing Mental Health Issues