PLOS defines a study’s minimal data set as the underlying data used to reach the conclusions drawn in the manuscript and any additional data required to replicate the reported study findings in their entirety. There are many validated mental health and well-being scales which provide a empirical sense of these issues, and for readers unfamiliar with this area, understanding the prevalence and severity of mental ill-health among academics would be useful. In addition to the reviewer comments noted below, it would be useful for the authors to include a brief overview in Research on mental health and social support the Introduction of what quantitative-focused studies in this area have found. Further high-quality qualitative research is also needed to better understand the experiences and support needs of post-doctoral and more senior researchers as there is a paucity of literature in this area.
In Germany, the current regulations for temporary academic employment are being evaluated , but even propositions from the conference of university rectors seem not to be sufficient for fundamental changes. Such interventions might directly influence the job insecurity and job dissatisfaction of Ph.D. students. Furthermore, highlighting the high prevalence of mental health problems, for example, at mandatory introductory sessions for Ph.D. students, might help to raise awareness about this topic.
Participants and Methods
As the sample was limited to students from the Faculty of Education, students’ stress levels and experiences may vary significantly across disciplines. For future studies, administering the tests at the beginning of the academic term could improve participation rates. Educational institutions could consider redistributing workloads and making work deadlines more flexible, allowing students to better manage their academic and personal responsibilities.
The Concept of Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Prevention
In the current study, we aimed to account for affective factors, namely depression, anxiety and stress that may impact academic performance. No funnel plots were built for positive mental health and academic performance outcomes with 7–12 months and 13–18 months of follow-up due to lack of original data (only two studies were included in each corresponding category). To our knowledge, this is the first systematic review and meta-analysis focusing primarily on the sustainability of the effects of mental health promoting and mental ill health preventing interventions among students in higher education and analyzing different categories of follow-up duration. Our systematic review and meta-analysis showed sustainability of the benefits of mental health interventions targeting students in higher education, though in most of the analyses, the pooled ESs yielded significant, but small overall effects.
Their study was on a cohort of ICU-hospitalized patients, while our analysis was conducted on a nationally representative sample of Australian population aged 15 and over. Our finding delivers a precise estimate of this causal effect of physical health on mental health, consistent with Olafson et al. (2021) evidence that that worsening physical health due to trauma events or hospitalization leads to higher mental health medication. Based on responses to health questions from the SF-36, we found that a one-point improvement (or worsening) in physical health scores (0–100) will result in a rise (or decline) of 0.43 points (or 43%) in mental health score. Any improvement (or worsening) in physical health then strongly affects mental health afterward. These methods help address the reciprocal relationship between physical health and mental health, and endogeneity of physical health. However, research evidence and approaches have lagged behind this shift, especially research on the extent physical health shocks and conditions are determinants of mental health conditions and symptoms.
- The large samples in this study also increased the statistical significance of our findings, so readers must bear in mind that most effect sizes were small to medium (see Tables 2, 4a, and 4b).
- DH-T and LI contributed to conception and design of the study, organized the database, and performed the statistical analysis.
- These policies aim to promote mental well-being, provide support services, and create a campus environment conducive to mental health.
- A similar tendency for the effects of intervention to become non-significant as the duration of follow-up increases was observed in our study, though the sustainability of effects differed between ill-health and positive mental health outcomes.
‘… receiving “a stipend that can barely … support your living’ as a doctoral student is not the same as other people earning money, like, real money by working” (Doctoral researcher, Educational Sciences, Finland—). We identified seven key themes through the reflexive thematic analysis. Individual study quality ratings can be found in Table 1. The studies were independently assessed on quality by HN and ST. Any disagreements were resolved through discussion. However, each study was given a quality rating through the use of the Critical Appraisal Skills Program (CASP) checklist.
