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The current study discloses the influence that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the mental health of graduate students by analysing the factors associated with burnout syndrome. We analysed sociodemographic, academic, health and life habits factors. We found that being single had an effect in all burnout domains and the sex female as well with the colleagues related burnout domain along the sociodemographic characteristics. Among the academic characteristics, we found high levels of academic burnout for all dimensions among those who had university drop-out intentions, were dissatisfied with how the university dealt with the pandemic and also those who did not feel supported by the university during the outbreak. We found high levels of academic burnout among colleagues-related burnout and teacher-related burnout dimensions in the health and life habits characteristics with those who had excessive alcohol consumption and took antidepressants. The personal burnout and studies-related burnout presented a high level among those who had a bad sleep quality.

Sex differences associated with burnout is still without a literature consensus. Some authors suggest that females are more likely suffer from exhaustion and have higher levels of stress than males, while others report no difference between the two sexes regarding exhaustion and stress^9,24. Nonetheless, our study found association between sex and the colleagues-related burnout dimension, corroborating that females are more likely to develop burnout. Studies has been reporting^25,26,27 that the higher chronic stress level among females is influenced not only by the university environment that includes role conflict, excessive workload, competitive colleagues and considerable mental pressure to publish, but also by inappropriate behaviours, such as harassment, bullying and gender discrimination.

Woolston²⁸ published a study by the Nature’s survey with 6.296 PhD respondents, one-quarter of who identified as female reported personally experiencing harassment or discrimination compared with 16% of those identifying as men. Moreover, 57% of students who experienced bullying reported fear of personal repercussions if they discuss their situation. This discloses that sex differences associated with burnout exist and being a woman researcher is still a challenge.

We also found that being single was associated with higher burnout scores in all dimensions compared to those with married or other marital status. This result was well reported by Maslach et al.¹⁷ that found higher burnout among those who identified as single rather than married. Among postgraduates, other study also found higher burnout scores in single individuals compared to the married ones¹⁴. Marriage as a social support may act as a protecting factor from chronic stress and can play a role in reducing academic burnout.

Evaluating aspects related to academic life, we found that many graduate students at some point had considered abandoning their studies. Several studies have reported high rates of university withdrawal intentions, for example, 30–70% of doctorate students will may not complete their PhD degree^8,29,30,31. Experiences of high stress, anxiety and exhaustion, demonstrated a lack of interest in their studies which appears to influence drop-out intentions^8,32,33. In contrast, satisfaction and engagement in research, supervision from several supervisors, integration and networks in the research community has a reverse effect in reducing burnout rates and enhancing success to degree completion^34,35. This reveals that the decision to drop out of studies has a direct influence on burnout experiences, as shown by an association in all four burnout’s dimensions.

Furthermore, relating to the academic life, we found that the feeling of not being supported by the university during the COVID-19 outbreak had an association with all burnout dimensions. The academic support that graduate students receive from their department, faculty or university is essential to develop the sense of belonging and fitting in the educational environment. The lack of this perceived organizational support can increase the risk of experiencing exhaustion and the dissatisfaction with the doctoral studies, leading to academic burnout and consequences such as the intention to leave the degree^8,36,37. The dissatisfaction with how the university dealt with the pandemic was another result found associated with the dimensions studies-related burnout, colleague-related burnout and teacher-related burnout, showing the direct influence of the institution, work environment and supervision on student satisfaction and well-being^37,38,39. Particularly, the perceived organizational support and satisfaction with the institution can be decreased when the graduate students need to deal with the lack of transparency, undefined career prospects, unclear expectations during an outbreak such the COVID-19, thus the aforementioned factors can raise the risk for developing burnout.

Analysing the health and life habits characteristics we found that a bad sleep quality is associated with two burnout dimensions, personal burnout and studies-related burnout. Allen et al. also found in their study with graduate students that sleep quality has more consistent relationship with burnout and might be more important than sleep duration in order to reduce burnout levels⁴⁰. It is already known that a poor sleep quality is associated with higher levels of fatigue and exhaustion, and when it comes to graduate students, this can impact directly and negatively the student’s personal life and academic productivity^41,42. Given that together with prolonged and chronic stress, the lack of energy and motivation can make students less interested in their studies and more prone to develop academic burnout.

Moreover, with regards to the health and life habits factors related to academic burnout, we found that self-reported excessive alcohol consumption and use of antidepressants are both associated with colleague-related burnout and teacher-related burnout. The association between burnout syndrome and the consumption of alcohol has been widely reported, although a limited number of studies have examined this relationship among graduate students. The vulnerable situations of the students, emotional conflicts in the academia environment, excess of activities and competitiveness are pointed as the most contributing factors in the development of high levels of stress and alcohol misuse. This excessive alcohol consumption may be viewed as a dysfunctional coping mechanism, since the students may abuse alcohol as a strategy for regulating tension and stressful situations in the academia^43,44,45,46.

The use of antidepressants can be also observed as a way of coping with adversity in the academia. It is already known that the academic stressors are related to stress, anxiety, depression, and when combined with extra load on studying as well as the need to enhance performance and concentration, students may resort to the use of antidepressants to avoid episodes of social anxiety and depressive behaviour. This finding is consistent with other studies, that reported students who use antidepressants, present high levels of burnout^47,48,49. The misuse of alcohol and/or other substances are linked with burnout, and by neglecting that, it can lead to serious consequences.

1Limitations

Our study has some important limitations. The cross-sectional study design limited our ability to establish causality between the associations. The online assessment to collect data during the COVID-19 outbreak may carry response bias and are less reliable. Therefore, we have used screening tools in this study and our findings should be interpreted carefully, since it is not a clinical psychiatric diagnostic instrument.