Mental health has long been a concern for early-career researchers, broadly defined as Ph.D. students and postdoctoral fellows, but the reach and severity of this problem have remained unclear. A new study from the University of Vienna, Austria, looked at a range of mental health issues and symptoms from nearly 140,000 individuals and found that about one in three early-career researchers experienced elevated psychological distress—a higher proportion than the general population.

Expanded parameters

Early-career researchers typically report high job satisfaction and internal motivation, but they also report more mental health issues than the average population. Such psychological concerns include syndromes (depression, generalized anxiety disorder and burnout) and individual symptoms (stress, poor sleep and suicidal ideation).

Until now, most research looking at mental health in graduate students and postdocs primarily focused on depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation despite the evidence for a slew of other relevant syndromes and symptoms affecting the group. The current study, which is reportedly the largest and most comprehensive meta-analysis on early-career researcher mental health to date, expanded these parameters by including general psychological distress, burnout, eating disorders, nonsuicidal self-injury, alcohol abuse, sleep quality, somatic symptoms, drug abuse, ADHD, OCD, bipolar disorder, social phobia, agoraphobia, panic disorder, PTSD and personality disorders.

The nitty gritty

The meta-analysis combined and reviewed data from 230 independent samples across 148 studies, ultimately considering the experiences of nearly 140,000 individuals. It revealed that one in three (29.9%) early-career researchers experienced elevated psychological distress. Getting more into the weeds: 29.8% of the individuals in the study reported elevated depressive symptoms; 29.7% recounted elevated anxiety symptoms; 22.9% said they experience alcohol-related problems; 18.8% have had suicidal ideations. When broken down by age, elevated depressive symptoms were two to three times higher in the sample compared with the general population of the same age and anxiety symptoms were three to five times higher.

The study did not show significant differences among disciplines, genders or career stages. “The findings suggest that psychological distress among [early-career researchers] is not a phenomenon limited to specific groups,” said study author Aljoscha Dreisoerner. “Rather, we see a broad pattern of mental health problems that is evident across many areas of academia.” From a geographical perspective, further statistical testing showed that samples from the United States reported much lower prevalence and severity of mental health issues than samples from outside the country.

A structural problem

The study’s results suggest both structural and individual stressors are responsible for mental health issues in early-career researchers. Potential underlying causes include job insecurity due to short-term contracts, high competition, perceived isolation, imposter syndrome and abuse of power from higher ups.

A worrying 30 to 50% of doctoral students leave their programs without graduating, according to previous studies. This, coupled with the data on the severity and prevalence of mental health problems, points toward a need for change in the development of academic careers. “Structural changes are much needed,” says researcher Urs Nater. “These include more stable career paths, greater predictability for mid-level academic staff, and regular monitoring of mental health at universities.”