Differences in Mental Health of Doctoral Students Over a One-Year Period in the Autonomous University of Barcelona

In the context of implementing mental health policies at a local level among universities, the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) started working towards a healthier and more sustainable campus in 2018 (Healthy and Sustainable Campus Plan, 2018-2022). The UAB, in collaboration with the Catalan Net of Healthy Universities, works to promote improvements towards a healthier campus. It has implemented several actions that are aimed at promoting mental health and emotional well-being among members of the academic community. Following the guidelines of the European Charter for Researchers (EURAXESS), UAB is working towards a greater understanding of the mental health of members of the researchers’ community, especially of Early Career Researchers (ECRs), given their vulnerability to mental health issues as previous reports from other universities have shown. In order to provide a comprehensive understanding of mental health, these efforts are targeted not only at the more conventional negative indicators (i.e., psychopathology or psychological distress) but also incorporates positive indicators (i.e., well-being). Accordingly, the present study aims (1) to explore the positive and negative indicators of doctoral students’ mental health in two academic courses (i.e., two different years and cohorts) and (2) extend the research on the understanding of whether or not positive and negative mental health indicators are differentially predicted by context (i.e., satisfaction with the learning process and relationships with supervisor[s])