Looking Inward: Academic Advisors’ Mental Health

Abstract

We examined academic advisors’ clinically significant symptoms of major depressive disorder (MDD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), including whether there are statistically significant relationships between advisors’ demographic characteristics, work-related variables, institutional variables, burnout, resilience, and risk of clinically significant MDD/GAD symptoms. We analyzed survey data of academic advisors collected from February to March 2023 (n = 777) and found that 16.9% of advisors met the criteria for MDD while 29.6% met the criteria for GAD, rates higher than national averages. While there were some demographic differences, advisors who experienced higher rates of burnout had increased odds of experiencing MDD and GAD symptoms. In addition, advisors’ resilience was associated with decreased odds of experiencing MDD and GAD symptoms.