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For students aged 50+, researchers report greater loneliness, more doubt in academic abilities, and challenges sustaining motivation, along with potentially distinct motivations. This quantitative correlational study used social media recruitment (303 participants) and online surveys assessing enrollment motivation, academic anxiety, depressive symptoms, generalized anxiety, and well-being.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/motivation-academic-anxiety-depression-and-well-being-among-doctoral-students-over-50/427359/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/motivation-academic-anxiety-depression-and-well-being-among-doctoral-students-over-50/427359.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Noah","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-15","2026-09-29",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":24},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What mental health risks are highlighted for doctoral students, especially those over 50?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"The study notes higher risks of anxiety and depression compared with the general population. It also reports older doctoral students may experience greater loneliness, more doubt in academic abilities, and more difficulty sustaining motivation.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How were participants recruited and what study type was used?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Participants were recruited via social media, yielding 303 participants. The study used a quantitative correlational design.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"Which factors were associated with mental health outcomes in the results?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"Age, gender, number of children in the home, household income, course type, and university type were associated with mental health outcomes. Enrollment motivation also showed specific leading categories.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},427359,1790789462,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":24,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":14,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":24},8796095462418,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/80000253c1241d02b47?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1778826106357471780","736 Innovation in Aging, 2025, Vol. 9, No. S2  \nAbstract citation ID: igaf122.2506  \nMOTIVATION, ACADEMIC ANXIETY, DEPRESSION AND WELL-BEING AMONG DOCTORAL  \nSTUDENTS OVER 50  \nMichelle Ackerman1, and Bettina Shapira2, 1. National University, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, United States,  \n2. National University, San Diego, California, United States  \nInnovation in Aging, 2025, Vol. 9, No. S2 737  \nIncreased accessibility to doctoral programs has resulted in a growing trend of doctoral recipients over the age of 45 (6.9% in 2020; NCSES, 2020) . Recent studies suggest doctoral students are at significantly higher risk of negative mental health outcomes such as anxiety and depression compared to the general population and current employees with high levels of education (Leveque et al., 2017; Evens et al., 2018). Older doctoral students may experience greater loneliness, more doubt in their academic abilities, have more difficulty sustaining motivation (Usher & McCormack, 2021) and may have different motivations than traditional-age students (Stehlik, 2011; Templeton, 2021) .  \nHowever, while there is a body of research investigating the association of age with doctoral student outcomes, few previous studies have investigated doctoral students who enrolled age 50+ .  \nSocial media recruitment yielded 303 participants for this quantitative correlational study. Qualtrics online surveys included demographic questions, questions about motivation to enroll, Academic Anxiety Scale, Patient Health Questionnaire-2, Generalized Anxiety Disorder 2-item, and WHO-5 Well-Being Index. The highest reported motivation for enrolling was interest in the subject matter and love of learning (23.2%), followed by pursuing an academic career (17.9%), and to upgrade, improve or expand employment-related knowledge/ qualifications/skills (16.2%). Age, gender, number of children in the home, household income, course type and university type were associated with mental health outcomes. Discussion focuses on supporting older doctoral students to promote success and well-being. Conclusions are relevant for current and potential older adult doctoral students as well as administrators and faculty of doctoral programs.","cbCaijMSmUnEWAFB","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaijMSmUnEWAFB","pdf",1282846,"English","# Study background\n## Mental health risks and older-age concerns\n# Research design and measures\n## Recruitment and participant profile\n## Survey instruments\n# Motivation patterns and outcomes\n## Enrollment motivation categories\n## Factors linked to mental health\n# Discussion and implications\n## Support for older doctoral students\n## Relevance for administrators and faculty","[{\"question\":\"What mental health risks are highlighted for doctoral students, especially those over 50?\",\"answer\":\"The study notes higher risks of anxiety and depression compared with the general population. It also reports older doctoral students may experience greater loneliness, more doubt in academic abilities, and more difficulty sustaining motivation.\"},{\"question\":\"How were participants recruited and what study type was used?\",\"answer\":\"Participants were recruited via social media, yielding 303 participants. The study used a quantitative correlational design.\"},{\"question\":\"Which factors were associated with mental health outcomes in the results?\",\"answer\":\"Age, gender, number of children in the home, household income, course type, and university type were associated with mental health outcomes. Enrollment motivation also showed specific leading categories.\"}]","MOTIVATION, ACADEMIC ANXIETY, DEPRESSION AND WELL-BEING AMONG DOCTORAL STUDENTS OVER 50 | PDF",1790643640]