Peer-reviewed article
Mental health in academia: A national survey on risk and protective factors in the Indonesian context.
Abidin FA, Eliyanah E, Purba FD, Kadiyono AL, Sunardy GN et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This national survey examines mental health among 1,380 university academics in Indonesia, finding that about 40% work more than the legal standard hours. Most reported low anxiety and minimal depression, though younger women in lower-ranked positions were more vulnerable to poor mental health. The study identified publication stress and workplace unwanted behavior as risk factors, while personal mastery was protective. The authors recommend institutional policies beyond individual-focused interventions.
Key points
- 40.5% of academics worked more than 40 hours per week, exceeding Indonesian legal standards
- 63.1% reported low/minimal anxiety, 63.8% had moderate stress, and 43.3% had low/minimal depression
- Female, younger, childless academics in lower ranks with lower income were most vulnerable
- Publication stress and workplace unwanted behavior were consistently associated with lower well-being
- Higher personal mastery was associated with better mental health outcomes across all measures
Limitations
This study focuses on adult academics, not children, and therefore does not address child well-being. The survey provides descriptive data on associations between risk and protective factors but does not evaluate the effectiveness of any intervention.
Abstract
University academics are central to advancing higher education through teaching, research, and community engagement. However, mental-health challenges in this population have risen in recent years, partially driven by systemic pressures such as hypercompetition, heavy workloads, job insecurity, and escalating expectations for research productivity and publication output. This national survey included 1,380 academics (37.1% men, 62.7% women; M = 40.09 years) from 32 of Indonesia's 38 provinces, representing both public and private institutions and all academic ranks from lecturer to full professor. The findings showed that nearly half of the participants (40.5%) reported working more than 40 hours per week, exceeding the standard legal working hours in Indonesia, with work often extending into evenings, weekends, and holidays. Most participants reported low/minimal anxiety (63.1%) and moderate stress (63.8%), while depression was mostly low/minimal (43.3%) or mild (36.3%). Female, younger age, academics without children, and those in lower ranks with lower income were the groups most vulnerable to poorer mental health outcomes. Across the risk and protective factors examined, higher publication stress and greater experience of unwanted behavior at the workplace were consistently associated with lower levels of well-being and higher psychological distress (β = -.19 to.20 and -.15 to.16, respectively; all ps < .001). In contrast, higher personal mastery was consistently associated with better mental-health (β = .39), greater work satisfaction (β = .33), higher happiness at work (β = .37), and lower stress (β = -.50), anxiety (β = -.40), depression (β = -.41), and emotional exhaustion (β = -.31) (all ps < .001). These findings suggest that academic mental health is shaped by intersecting individual capacities, institutional climates, and global publication pressures. Interventions should therefore move beyond individual-focused strategies and include institutional policies that prevent and address unwanted behavior in the workplace, reduce publication stress, and promote healthier work practices.