Banca de DEFESA: LUCIA MARIA DE OLIVEIRA SANTOS

Uma banca de DEFESA de DOUTORADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : LUCIA MARIA DE OLIVEIRA SANTOS
DATE: 08/09/2026
TIME: 14:00
LOCAL: UFRN- Laboratório de Psicologia
TITLE:

Mental Health Indicators and Psychosocial Protective Factors in Master's and Doctoral Students.

KEY WORDS:

Mental Health; Graduate Students; Social Support; Psychological Resilience; Academic Supervision.

PAGES: 274
BIG AREA: Ciências Humanas
AREA: Psicologia
SUMMARY:

Graduate students' mental health has become an increasing concern both nationally and internationally
due to the high prevalence of psychological distress and its impact on academic training, scientific
productivity, and graduate student retention. Although the literature has extensively documented risk
factors associated with mental illness, evidence regarding psychosocial protective factors that can
potentially be strengthened by higher education institutions remains limited. In this context, this doctoral
dissertation aimed to investigate the relationship between mental health indicators and psychosocial
factors—including social support, resilience, and the supervisor–doctoral student relationship - among
master's and doctoral students from two Brazilian public universities, as well as to identify interventions
described in the literature to promote mental health in this population. The research comprised three
complementary stages: a systematic literature review conducted according to the PRISMA guidelines; a
quantitative, analytical, cross-sectional study involving 566 master's and doctoral students, using a
Sociodemographic Questionnaire, the Goldberg General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), the Perceived
Social Support Scale, and the Resilience Scale; and a qualitative investigation of the supervisor–doctoral
student relationship. In addition to a closed-ended question, the Sociodemographic Questionnaire
included an open-ended question on the supervisor–doctoral student relationship, whose responses were
analyzed using IRaMuTeQ software. The systematic review identified 23 studies evaluating
interventions to promote graduate students' mental health. Overall, the interventions showed
predominantly favorable outcomes, while no Brazilian studies met the eligibility criteria. The
quantitative study revealed a high frequency of psychological distress, with a mean GHQ-12 score of
5.63; 51.77% of the participants reported receiving mental health treatment, 31.63% reported a previous
diagnosis of a mental disorder, and 31.27% reported using medication to improve their mental health.
Psychological distress was negatively associated with perceived social support (r = –0.29) and
moderately and negatively associated with resilience (r = – 0.53), indicating that higher levels of social
support and resilience were associated with lower levels of psychological distress. Additionally, social
support was positively associated with resilience (r = 0.25), suggesting that students who perceived
greater social support tended to report higher levels of resilience and lower psychological distress.
Students who perceived their relationship with their supervisor as problematic were approximately three
times more likely to be receiving mental health treatment. The qualitative analysis identified five lexical
classes, revealing that the supervisory experience is shaped by educational, pedagogical, relational,
psychosocial, and organizational dimensions. The findings indicate that social support, resilience, and
the quality of the supervisor–doctoral student relationship constitute important psychosocial protective
factors for graduate students' mental health. They also suggest that promoting mental health in graduate
education requires a systemic approach integrating preventive actions, strengthening social support
networks, improving supervisory practices, and implementing institutional policies committed to
fostering healthier academic environments.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Externo ao Programa - 2290876 - ANTONIO ALVES FILHO - nullExterna à Instituição - DAIANA KLOH KHALAF - UFPR
Interna - 347027 - EULALIA MARIA CHAVES MAIA
Externa à Instituição - GABRIELA ISABEL REYES ORMENO - UFPR
Externa à Instituição - LUCIANA CARLA BARBOSA DE OLIVEIRA - UFRN