Objective:

To identify the level of stress of university students in the Southwestern of Colombia.

Materials and methods:

Descriptive correlational study applying a survey of sociodemographic aspects and the scale of perceived stress to a convenience sample of 788 students from three universities during the first semester of 2020. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov normality test was applied together with descriptive statistics such as dispersion as determination of the correlation through Pearson’s R (p<0.05).

Results:

The sample presented an age of 21.34 ± 3.39 years distributed in 384 men (48.7%) and 404 women (51.3%). It was determined from the stress scale that they are often stressed (41,52 ± 6.547) where women presented greater expression of stress while men developed greater control. Correlations were also observed between stress levels, gender and socioeconomic status.

Conclusions:

The students showed high levels of stress with expressions of loss of control and concern for the future. Both, socioeconomic status, marital status and gender are indicators that must be thoroughly studied and monitored in order to generate strategies to minimize any psychological risk in university students that increases during the pandemic.

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