{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,3]],"date-time":"2026-07-03T01:32:56Z","timestamp":1783042376361,"version":"3.54.6"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"22","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,17]],"date-time":"2021-11-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1637107200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: A group particularly exposed to the occurrence of disorders in the sphere of the psyche are young people with a newly developing personality structure and a sense of identity. In the available literature there are few reports describing the mental health of doctoral students\u2014a group that is affected by a particular group of stressors. The aim of the research was to assess the mental health of PhD students at Polish universities. Material and Methods: The Polish adaptation of the GHQ Questionnaire-28, developed by David Goldberg et al. was used in the research. PhD students from all universities associated in the National Representation of Doctoral Students were invited to take part in the research. A total of 576 completed questionnaires were received. Results: It was found that depression is statistically more frequent in doctoral students who are not in any relationship with another person; anxiety\/insomnia is more common in women than men and less frequently in doctoral students of general than in technical universities. Conclusions: (1) More than half of the surveyed students complain about the deterioration of mental health. The most commonly reported symptom groups are anxiety and insomnia, followed by social dysfunctions and somatic symptoms. (2) Depression is statistically more common in people who are not in any relationship with another person and anxiety and insomnia are statistically more common in women than in men and statistically less frequent in doctoral students of general universities than technical universities. (3) In view of the presented results, educating young adults in the field of self-awareness in the field of mental health seems to be particularly important.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph182212068","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,17]],"date-time":"2021-11-17T09:16:11Z","timestamp":1637140571000},"page":"12068","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":11,"title":["Mental Health of PhD Students at Polish Universities\u2014Before the COVID-19 Outbreak"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"given":"Mateusz","family":"Kowalczyk","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Babinski Memorial Hospital, Aleksandrowska St. 159, 91-229 Lodz, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4416-2736","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Micha\u0142 Seweryn","family":"Karbownik","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Medical University of Lodz, \u017beligowskiego St. 7\/9, 90-752 Lodz, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2250-6040","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Edward","family":"Kowalczyk","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Medical University of Lodz, \u017beligowskiego St. 7\/9, 90-752 Lodz, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9823-4176","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Monika","family":"Sienkiewicz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology and Microbiological Diagnostic, Medical University of Lodz, Muszy\u0144skiego St. 1, 90-151 Lodz, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Monika","family":"Talarowska","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychopathology, Institute of Psychology, University of Lodz, Smugowa St. 10\/12, 91-433 Lodz, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"345","DOI":"10.12740\/PP\/75738","article-title":"The prevalence of mental disorders among children and youth staying in residential institutions, children\u2019s homes\u2014A review of epidemiological studies","volume":"52","author":"Pawliczuk","year":"2018","journal-title":"Psychiatr. 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