Depression is a mental health concern for many students and is prevalent among undergraduates at a concerning rate. It has also been shown that underserved and underrepresented individuals in science are disproportionately impacted by depression (Turner and Noh, 1988, Eisenberg et al., 2007; Jenkins et al., 2013; American College Health Association, 2018). If we want to create a more inclusive community in science, we should consider how students’ depressive symptoms interact with their research experiences. However, there is a lack of understanding of the relationship between undergraduate research and students’ depression. A recent study published by the Biology Education Research Lab at ASU begins to explore how depression impacts undergraduate research experiences, as well as how these research experiences affect students’ depression.
Depressive symptoms affect undergraduate research experiences
Through student interviews,the researchers found that depressive symptoms impact student motivation and productivity, creativity and risk-taking, engagement and concentration, and self-perception and socialization in undergraduate research experiences. In particular, students expressed that their depression caused a decrease in productivity due to a lack of motivation and creativity. They often struggled to intellectually engage in their work and had trouble focusing on tasks and remembering information. Furthermore, undergraduate students often experienced increased self-consciousness and self-criticism due to their depression, and a decreased desire to socialize with fellow lab members.
The overall lab environment has a big impact on students with depression. These students pointed out that positive social interactions with other lab members as well as with mentors, postdocs, and graduate students was beneficial for them. It is particularly important for students with depression to feel validated in their feelings and realize that what they are thinking and experiencing is normal by forming relationships with fellow undergraduate lab members. While for the most part, the students reported that undergraduate relationships are positive for students with depression, labs can foster a competitive environment of high-achieving students comparing themselves to their peers and leading to a more negative self-perception. Additionally, negative social interactions, isolation, and a lack of stimulation from others in the lab could worsen depressive symptoms.
Undergraduate research experiences impact students’ depression
In addition to exploring how depression affects students’ experiences in undergraduate research, it is important to understand how these research experiences are impacting students’ depression in order to identify changes that could be made to help create a more inclusive scientific community.Lab environment
Process of doing science
In addition to the lab environment, the study showed that the process of doing science has a significant effect on students with depression. A major aspect of the process of science that negatively impacts student depression is experiencing failure, especially when students do not feel comfortable reaching out to their mentors about the situation. However, when students found their mentors to be helpful and patient, they felt it helped with their depression. In addition to experiencing failure, making mistakes and having negative reactions from other lab members increased depression, while receiving praise for successful achievements increased self-esteem, and thus helped alleviate their depression. An important factor that helps students deal with the stress of managing research, classes, and other commitments is flexibility and understanding from their mentors. Without this flexibility, students found their research experiences could exacerbate their depression. However, some students saw their research lab as a place of familiarity and importantly, if they were able to see the value of their research and contributions, they felt this helped decrease depressive symptoms.
What can we do to make undergraduate research more inclusive for students with depression?
After exploring the relationship between depression and undergraduate research experiences, is it important to identify what we can do in lab settings to help create a more inclusive environment. In a Life Sciences Education article, Cooper et al. provide five recommendations for mentors to create a more positive and inclusive lab environment for students with depression.- Recognize depression as a valid illness and treat it like any other physical illness. Try to de-stigmatize mental health issues by providing opportunities for students to bring up feelings of depression and checking in with students about their mental health. Additionally, allow students with depression to take time off simply by explaining they are sick and need time to recover.
- Create a positive lab environment. Promote the use of shared spaces and increase positive social interactions by reminding mentors that their mood has an impact on the undergraduate students. It is also important to try and reduce competition between undergraduates by not showing favoritism, but rather give praise without comparison to other students and not in a public way.
- Develop personal relationships with undergraduate students and provide them with guidance. Build mentor-student relationships by asking about personal interests beyond their career and academic goals. Furthermore, allow for open communication by building trust in this relationship. Help students feel safe to share their struggles with depression, and invite them to ask questions and seek help if they need it.
- Be respectful and praise undergraduate students. Avoid harsh criticisms and acknowledge student successes with praise. This will increase self-esteem and help in reducing the negative self-perception that students with depression may hold of themselves.
- Normalize failure and emphasize the importance of undergraduate students’ research contributions. Explain that failure is a normal and expected part of scientific research and share your own failures with students to help normalize this aspect of the process. If an undergraduate student does experience some kind of failure (which they probably will!), provide support and encouragement and help with problem solving. Additionally, it is essential to show students how their work relates to the larger goals of the project so they can see the importance of their research in context of the scientific community.
By implementing these recommendations, we hope to create a more inclusive environment for students with depression and to spark further research on the relationship between depression and undergraduate research.
References
- American College Health Association. (2018). Undergraduate reference group executive summary, Fall 2018. Retrieved November 29, 2019, from www.acha.org/documents/ncha/NCHA-II_Fall_2018_Reference _Group_Executive_Summary.pdf. https://www.acha.org/
documents/ncha/NCHA-II_Fall_ 2018_Reference_Group_ Executive_Summary.pdf
- Cooper, K. M., Gin, L. E., Barnes, E., Brownell, S. E. (2020). An Exploratory Study of Students with Depression in Undergraduate Research Experiences. CBE-Life Sciences Education, 19(2). https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.
19-11-0217
- Eisenberg, D., Gollust, S. E., Golberstein, E., & Hefner, J. L. (2007). Prevalence and correlates of depression, anxiety, and suicidality among university students. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 77(4), 534–542. https://doi.org/10.1037/
0002-9432.77.4.534
- Jenkins, S. R., Belanger, A., Connally, M. L., Boals, A., & Durón, K. M. (2013). First-generation undergraduate students’ social support, depression, and life satisfaction. Journal of College Counseling, 16(2), 129–142. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.
2161-1882.2013.00032.x
- Turner, R. J., & Noh, S. (1988). Physical disability and depression: A longitudinal analysis. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 29(1), 23–37. https://doi.org/10.2307/
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Post author:
Anna Abraham is an undergraduate researcher in Dr. Sara Brownell’s Biology Education Research Lab. She is interested in exploring what impacts students studying biology and how we can improve their ability to learn. She is currently pursuing a degree in Biomedical Sciences with a minor in Psychology and plans to attend medical school after graduation.
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