Objective:

Determine the relationship between the stress level and the coping strategies used by students of the Bachelor’s Degree of Nursing in institutions of higher education of Ciudad Obregón, Sonora.

Methodology:

Descriptive and correlational study; the population was comprised by 250 students whose age ranged from 18 and 46 years. Data was collected through a questionnaire of sociodemographic characteristics, the perceived stress level instrument, and the Brief COPE questionnaire.

Results:

74.4% of the sample was comprised by women and 25.6% by men. It was found that both genders had a moderate level of stress (78%), in terms of the coping strategies most frequently used by the students, the emotional active coping was the one found. The correlation analysis was performed using Pearson's chi-square non-parametric test (x2) to probe the existence of relationship between the stress level and coping strategies (p=0.67). Based on the results of x2 (p=0.067), an additional analysis was carried out separating the categories of each one of the variables of study; Pearson’s test was used to find a significant correlation between low stress level and active emotional coping strategy (p=0.27) and between high stress level and avoidance emotional coping strategy (p=-0.01).

Conclusions:

The highest levels of stress are manifested by students who study only theoretical subjects. It is suggested the implementation of interventions related to the adequate management of stress.

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