Positive factors related to graduate student mental health

Figures & data

Table 1. Participant characteristics (N = 3,679).

Variable	N
Gender
Female	2,013
Male	1,666
Ethnicity
Asian	932
Underrepresented minority	838
White	1,340
Other	569
Degree
Academic Master’s	419
Professional Master’s	504
Academic Doctoral	2,756
Discipline
Humanities	649
Social Sciences	670
STEM	1,519
Professional Field	748
Other	93

Figure 1. Depressive symptoms among graduate students.

(a) Prevalence of students scoring at the cutoff point for risk for of having clinical depression and a severe depressive episode for master’s and doctoral students; (b) Zero-order correlations between depressive and both positive and negative factors; (c) Standardized beta weights from regression analyses showing that the associations between negative factors and depressive symptoms are attenuated when positive factors are included in the model.

Note: All betas are greater than zero at p < .001. Analyses included gender, ethnicity, international student status, marital/partnership status, and pursuing a Ph.D. (vs. Master’s) as covariates.

Table 2. Descriptive statistics for depressive symptoms and correlated risk and protective factors.

Variable	M or % Yes	SD	Range	Alpha	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
1. Depressive symptoms	M = 14.30	12.11	0.00 − 60.00	0.95	1	−.31***	-.21***	-.23***	-.36***	-.38***	-.40***
2. Financial concerns	M = 4.26	1.68	1.00 − 7.00	0.85		1	-.17***	-.19***	-.20***	-.33***	-.34***
3. Poor mentor relationships	M = 2.83	1.25	1.00 − 7.00	0.93			1	-.16***	-.21***	-.40***	-.21***
4. Bias from department	Yes = 23%	n/a	0.00 or 1.00	n/a				1	-.18***	-.38***	-.16***
5. Social support	M = 3.06	0.62	1.00 − 4.00	0.89					1	-.37***	-.23***
6. Support from department	M = 5.03	1.06	1.00 − 7.00	0.88						1	-.41***
7. Optimism about career	M = 4.28	1.83	1.00 − 7.00	n/a							1

Note. *** p < .001.

Table 3. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis predicting depressive symptoms (N = 3,679).

	Model 1	Model 2	Model 3
Predictor	B(SE, β)	B(SE, β)	B(SE, β)
Female vs. male	1.25(.41, .05)**	0.38(.38, .02)	0.71(.35, .03)*
Asian	−0.77(.53, −.03)	−0.48(.50, −.02)	−1.42(.46, −.05)**
Underrepresented ethnic minority	0.35(.53, .01)	−0.39(.50, −.01)	−0.58(.46, −.02)
Other ethnicity	0.45(.67, .01)	0.17(.63, .01)	−0.42(.58, −.01)
International student	−2.52(.54, −.09)***	−1.94(.51, −.07)***	−2.07(.47, −.07)***
Married/in partnership vs. single	−2.16(.42, −.08)***	−1.72(.40, −.07)***	−1.02(.37, −.04)**
Pursuing Ph.D. vs. Master’s	2.01(.52, .07)***	2.01(.49, .07)***	0.32(.46, .01)
Social Science	−1.13(.66, −.04)	−0.28(.62, −.01)	0.50(.57, .02)
STEM	−3.06(.57, −.12)***	−1.40(.54, −.06)**	0.40(.51, .02)
Professional Field	−3.10(.69, −.10)***	−2.11(.65, −.07)**	0.33(.61, .01)
Other Discipline	0.93(1.32, .01)	1.48(1.23, .02)	2.07(1.14, .03)
Financial concerns		1.70(.12, .24)***	0.86(.11, .12)***
Poor mentorship		1.48(.15, .15)***	0.30(.15, .03)*
Bias from department		4.39(.45, .15)***	−2.46(.44, .09)***
Social support			−4.55(.30, −.23)***
Department social climate		1	−1.12(.21, −.10)***
Optimism about career		1	−1.59(.11, −.24)***
Adjusted R^2	.04	.17	.29
R^2 change	.04	.13	.13

Note. White is the reference group for the dummy-coded ethnicity variables. Humanities is the reference group for the dummy-coded discipline variables. *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.