Estudio comparativo sobre el estrés, la ansiedad y la depresión en estudiantes de los colegios Benigno Malo de Cuenca, María Auxiliadora y Purísima de Macas, Ecuador.

Abstract

Emotional disorders in adolescents constitute a significant public health problem that affects psychological well-being and academic performance. The present study aimed to compare levels of depression, anxiety, and stress among students from three Ecuadorian educational institutions through the application of the DASS-21 scale. The research was conducted under a quantitative approach, with a non-experimental, cross-sectional design and a descriptive-comparative scope. The sample consisted of 439 students, from the eighth year of Upper Secondary Basic Education to the third year of Unified General Baccalaureate, from Benigno Malo High School in Cuenca (n = 236), María Auxiliadora Educational Unit (n = 100), and Purísima Educational Unit in Macas (n = 103). For data collection, the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21) was used. Data analysis was carried out using IBM SPSS Statistics version 26, employing descriptive statistics through frequencies and percentages to describe the distribution of levels of emotional symptomatology. The results showed the presence of emotional symptoms in the evaluated students, with anxiety standing out as the dimension with the highest prevalence, especially at high levels of severity. Likewise, variations were observed in the distribution of depression, anxiety, and stress levels according to educational level, while no marked differences were observed among educational institutions.