Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40863286›Full record

ArticleEuropean journal of investigation in health, psychology and education2025

Mental Health Among Spanish Doctoral Students: Relationship Between Anxiety, Depression, Life Satisfaction, and Mentoring.

Virginia Krieger, Cristina Cañete-Massé, Juan Antonio Amador-Campos, Maribel Peró-Cebollero, María Feliu-Torruella, Alba Pérez-González, Adolfo José Jarne-Esparcia, Xavier María Triadó-Ivern, Joan Guàrdia-Olmos

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Virginia KriegerDepartment of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Barcelona, 08035 Barcelona, Spain.ORCID 0000-0003-3931-8537
Cristina Cañete-MasséDepartment of Social Psychology and Quantitative Psychology, University of Barcelona, 08035 Barcelona, Spain.
Juan Antonio Amador-CamposDepartment of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Barcelona, 08035 Barcelona, Spain.ORCID 0000-0002-0160-1647
Maribel Peró-CebolleroDepartment of Social Psychology and Quantitative Psychology, University of Barcelona, 08035 Barcelona, Spain.ORCID 0000-0002-8793-5284
María Feliu-TorruellaDepartment of Applied Didactics, Faculty of Education, University of Barcelona, 08035 Barcelona, Spain.ORCID 0000-0002-6500-7620
Alba Pérez-GonzálezFaculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Open University of Catalonia, 08035 Barcelona, Spain.ORCID 0000-0003-2151-2198
Adolfo José Jarne-EsparciaDepartment of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Barcelona, 08035 Barcelona, Spain.
Xavier María Triadó-IvernBusiness Department, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Barcelona, 08035 Barcelona, Spain.ORCID 0000-0002-4938-6878
Joan Guàrdia-OlmosDepartment of Social Psychology and Quantitative Psychology, University of Barcelona, 08035 Barcelona, Spain.ORCID 0000-0002-4275-9184

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMental health issues among PhD students are rising, a trend believed to be driven by academic and social challenges.

methodA total of 1265 doctorate students from a large university in Barcelona, Spain (739 women; 414 men; 112 marked other options), with a mean age of 32.36 years (SD = 8.20, range: 23-67), were evaluated by means of standardized instruments.

resultsTotals of 40.6% and 46.5% of the sample exceeded the cut-off point for anxiety and depression symptoms, and 57.7% for life satisfaction. The proportion of females exceeding the cut-off point was significantly higher than that of males for both anxiety (women: 43.8%, men: 34.5%) and depression (women: 49.3%, men: 39.8%), but not for life satisfaction (women: 57.6%, men: 58.4%). Arts and Humanities PhD students' disciplines reported higher anxiety and depression scores than those in Social Sciences, Experimental Sciences and Mathematics, and Health Sciences, respectively, while Social Sciences students showed higher life satisfaction and mentoring support than the other groups. Depression scores were significant predictors of life satisfaction across all doctoral programs.

conclusionsThese findings highlight the importance of mentoring in supporting doctoral students' mental health and life satisfaction and can also inform policies in educational institutions, given that PhD students experiencing psychopathological disorders are at a higher risk of academic failure and dropout.

Indexed as

anxietydepressiondoctoral studentslife satisfactionmentoring

Identifiers

PMID40863286
PMCPMC12385554

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.