Relación entre rasgos de personalidad y nivel de estrés académico en estudiantes de las facultades de Salud y Bienestar, Ciencias Sociales y Ciencias de la Educación de la Universidad Católica de Cuenca, sede Azogues, Ecuador. periodo 2024-2025

Abstract

Background: Academic stress can interfere with academic performance and even affect mental and physical health. Objective: To analyze the relationship between personality traits and levels of academic stress among students from the Faculties of Health and Wellness, Social Sciences, and Educational Sciences at the Catholic University of Cuenca, Azogues Campus, during the 2024–2025 academic year. Methodology: This study employed an observational, non-experimental, descriptive, cross-sectional, and correlational design using a quantitative approach. The sample consisted of 203 participants selected through simple random probability sampling. The “SISCO” Inventory and the “Big Five” Questionnaire were applied to measure stress and personality traits. Results: 57.1% of the participants were female, and 49.3% were between the ages of 18 and 20. Neuroticism showed a significant association with high levels of academic stress (r = 0.217, p = 0.001), while conscientiousness and emotional stability were associated with lower stress levels. Health-related programs have a higher prevalence of moderate stress: medicine 74%, nursing 62.9%, and dentistry 62%. Conclusions and Relevance: Education, nursing, and law programs present mild stress levels, whereas dentistry is the program with the highest levels of severe stress. The results indicate that personality traits influence academic stress, mainly affecting medical students. Keywords: academic stress, personality, neuroticism, coping, str