ArticleBMJ open2022
Mental health and working constraints of first-year PhD students in health and science in a French university: a cross-sectional study in the context of occupational health monitoring.
Article in BMJ open, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 9 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prevalence and severity of mental health problems in early-career researchers: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Nature human behaviour · 2026Pooled it
- Psychological Outcomes and Research Engagement Among PhD Students in Medicine and Health Sciences: A Systematic Review.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Mental Health Among Spanish Doctoral Students: Relationship Between Anxiety, Depression, Life Satisfaction, and Mentoring.European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education · 2025Article
- Neuro-Nutrition and Exercise Synergy: Exploring the Bioengineering of Cognitive Enhancement and Mental Health Optimization.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Knowledge and attitude toward oral health behavior of overseas students during the COVID-19 pandemic.BMC oral health · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo assess the mental health and working constraints perception of first-year PhD in France.
designIt is a cross-sectional study.
settingThe study was conducted by the team of the Lyon 1 University's Occupational Health and Medical Service for Staff, from October 2019 to February 2020. First-year PhD students employed by the university were seen during the routine occupational health medical check-up.
participantsA total of 161 PhD students in science from the 2019 intake were included in the study (participation rate 98%). OUTCOME MEASURES: Data were collected using a self-questionnaire on psychosocial constraints at work (Job Content Questionnaire), the quality of the professional relationship with the supervisor (Advisory Working Alliance Inventory, Student perspective (AWAI-S)), medical conditions, anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7) and depressive symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire-9).
resultsA total of 161 PhD students from the 2019 intake were included in the study (participation rate 98%). Most of the PhD students reported high psychological demands (58%), high decision latitude (53%), high social support (55%) and good professional relationships with their supervisor (mean of global score of AWAI-S=114.5). However, 34% showed signs of at least mild depression, 19% showed signs of anxiety and 20% were referred to a mental health professional after the survey. Bivariate analyses showed that history of psychiatric disorders, their relationship with their supervisor, having complementary teaching activities and stressful working conditions contributed to anxiety and depression.
conclusionsEven in the first year of their PhD, some students had mental health issues. It seems relevant to generalise the medical follow-up of all PhD students as soon as they enter the doctoral programme in order to detect and treat their health problems and psychological disorders at an early stage.
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