Table 7. Rates of depression, anxiety, distress, suicidality, and self-injurious behaviour among graduate students.
Please refer to Table 1 for abbreviations.
| Source | Issue | Measurement | Demographic | Timeframe | Prevalence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grad resources 69 | Elevated stress | Students were asked to indicate whether they
experience “more stress than they can handle” |
American | “In life” | 45% |
| ACHA NCHA 45 | Elevated stress | Students were asked to indicate whether they
experienced “greater than average stress” in the past 12 months |
American graduate and professional
students |
Past 12
months |
61.4% |
| Evans et al. 30 | Depression | PHQ-9 | American, 91.5%; International, 8.5%
PhD students, 90%; Masters students, 10% |
Past 2 weeks | 41% |
| Evans et al. 30 | Anxiety | GAD-7 | American, 91.5%; International, 8.5% | Past 2 weeks | 39% |
| Levecque et al. 23 | Risk of developing
psychiatric issue |
GHQ-12 | Flemish PhD students | “Recent
weeks” |
32% |
| Levecque et al. 23 | Psychological distress | GHQ-12 | Flemish PhD students | “Recent
weeks” |
51% |
| Barreira et al. 86 | Moderate-to-severe
anxiety |
GAD-7 | American Economics PhD students | Past 2 weeks | 17.6% |
| Barreira et al. 86 | Worrying about work when
not working |
Survey | American Economics PhD students | Always or most
of the time |
62% |
| The Graduate
Assembly of UC Berkeley 75 |
Depression | CES-D | UC Berkeley PhD and Masters
students |
Past week | PhD, 47%;
Masters, 37% |
| Garcia-Williams
et al. 66 |
Moderate-to-severe
depression Hopelessness |
PHQ-9
Indicating having felt sometimes, often, or always hopeless |
Emory University students | Past 4 weeks | 34.4%
44.4% |
| Garcia-Williams
et al. 66 |
Anxiety | Indicating sometimes, often, or always having felt
“intensely anxious or having panic attacks” Indicating sometimes, often, or always having felt “nervous or worrying a lot” |
Emory University students | Past 4 weeks | 52%
95.4% |
| Garcia-Williams
et al. 66 |
Suicidal ideation
Suicide plans |
N/A | Emory University students | Past 4 weeks | 7.3%
2.3% |
| Garcia-Williams
et al. 66 |
NSSI | N/A | Emory University students | Past 4 weeks | 1.7% |
| Garcia-Williams
et al. 66 |
Symptoms of disordered
eating |
Survey questions about concern with weight and
control over diet |
Emory University students | Past 4 weeks | 46.4% |
| ACHA NCHA 45 | Depression | Diagnosis or treatment by professional
Indicating having felt “too depressed to function” Indicating having “experienced depression” |
American graduate and professional
students |
Past 12
months |
14.8%
32.9% 28.4% |
| ACHA NCHA 45 | Anxiety | Diagnosis or treatment by professional
Indicating having felt “overwhelming anxiety” |
American graduate and professional
students |
Past 12
months |
19.5%
60.5% |
| ACHA NCHA 45 | NSSI | N/A | American graduate and professional
students |
Past 12
months |
8.5% |
| ACHA NCHA 45 | Suicide attempt | N/A | American graduate and professional
students |
Past 12
months |
2% |
| Eisenberg et al. 47 | Depression | PHQ-9 | American graduate students | Past 4 weeks | 11.3% |
| Eisenberg et al. 47 | Anxiety | PHQ-9 | American graduate students | Past 4 weeks | 3.8% |
| Hyun et al. 63 | Emotional/stress-related
problem |
5-item survey | American and international students | Past 12
months |
43–46% |