Mental health across contexts: a cross-dataset study covering medical students, quarantined individuals, and psychiatric disordered subjects

Mental health research has traditionally focused on isolated contexts, such as medical education, quarantine, or clinical settings, without examining how demographic factors such as age, gender, and education influence mental health across different populations and settings. This lack of cross-context comparison limits our understanding of how demographic and situational factors interact to shape mental health outcomes. To address this gap, we conduct a comparative cross-dataset analysis using three distinct datasets—medical students, quarantined individuals, and psychiatric disordered subjects—analyzing them separately before drawing cross-context comparisons. Through statistical and network-based analyses, we explore how demographic factors shape mental health outcomes in these varied contexts. While isolated analyses reveal important patterns—such as women experiencing heightened stress during quarantine and medical students displaying increased empathy—our comparative approach uncovers novel insights. For instance, the impact of age on mental health differs significantly between quarantine and clinical settings. Additionally, while higher education is generally linked to better mental health, this association does not hold for medical students. These findings highlight the value of cross-dataset analysis in providing richer insights into how external factors impact mental health across diverse contexts, offering valuable guidance for future research and interventions.