Update on the Mental Health Crisis in Academia: Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Early Career Researchers’ Mental Health and Satisfaction with PhD training

In recent years, academia has been facing a mental health crisis affecting especially early career researchers (ECRs). Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic has posed an unprecedented burden for the mental health of many individuals. In this study we conducted an online survey aiming to investigate how ECRs, specifically doctoral students, evaluate their mental health status and satisfaction with their PhD training during and, retrospectively, before the pandemic. The survey took place in the beginning of 2021 in Germany, during which time pandemic-related restrictions and a soft lock-down were in place. Our final sample comprised 222 mostly empirically working doctoral researchers in an international and diverse science context of the wider Berlin area. Our results show that satisfaction with the PhD training and overall well-being decreased during the pandemic, as compared to the self-reported retrospective evaluations of these aspects before the onset of the pandemic. Additionally, more than a fifth of the sample was found to show clinically meaningful levels of depressive symptoms. Almost 25% experienced severe loneliness and the whole sample exhibited high levels of personal and work-related burnout. Finally, we explored predictors of the quantified levels of depression, anxiety, and burnout. The most prominent predictor for poor mental health was low satisfaction with PhD training, strongly suggesting a link between the doctoral work of ECRs and their mental health. Females vs. males as well as ECRs in individual PhD trainings vs. structured PhD programs reported higher symptoms of burnout. Taken together, our study replicates previous findings of poor mental health in ECRs and shows that problems related to PhD training increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, we conclude that systematic adjustments in academia are required to improve the mental health of ECRs.