Symptoms of Anxiety, Depression, Stress, and Associated Variables Among Medical Students

Guimaraes, Suely Sales; Chen, Juliana Rios; Lima, Cesar Rodrigues de

doi:10.1590/0102.3772e42403.en

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Clinical Psychology and Culture • Psic.: Teor. e Pesq. 42 • 2026 • https://doi.org/10.1590/0102.3772e42403.en linkcopy

Symptoms of Anxiety, Depression, Stress, and Associated Variables Among Medical Students

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Psychiatric disorders are more frequently reported in medical students when compared to other university students. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of anxiety, depression and stress symptoms among medical students and associated variables. A hundred students responded to a Google forms questionnaire, including the instrument DASS-21, which was analyzed with Excel and Scipy. Results revealed a greater prevalence of stress (67,85%) and depression (67,86%) in the clinical cycle and anxiety (57,69%) in the basic cycle. The most associated factors included female gender, lower socioeconomic conditions, irregular eating habits, considering dropping out or taking a leave of absence, and no perceived support. Results showed a high prevalence of the symptoms, suggesting the need for new intervention techniques in the area.

Keywords:
anxiety; depression; stress; medical students

Symptoms	Mean total score DASS-21	Severity degree of symptoms	n (%)*
Symptoms of depression	16.62	Mild	13
		Moderate	12
		Severe	11
		Extremely severe	25
		Total	61
Symptoms of anxiety	11.62	Mild	7
		Moderate	14
		Severe	6
		Extremely severe	24
		Total	51
Symptoms of stress	21.06	Mild	10
		Moderate	11
		Severe	21
		Extremely severe	21
		Total	63

Routine		N total	Depression				Anxiety				Stress
Routine		N total	Average score	Severe (n)	ES (n)	SES (%)	Average score	Severe (n)	ES (n)	SES (%)	Average score	Severe (n)	ES(n)	SES (%)
Physical activity	Regular	70	13.514	7	11	25.71%	10	3	15	25.71%	19.54	12	12	34.28%
Physical activity	No	30	23.87	4	14	60.00%	15.4	3	9	40.00%	24.6	9	9	60.00%
Classes	≥ 6 h/day	63	16.79	4	17	33.33%	11.62	4	15	30.15%	21.71	14	12	41.27%
Classes	< 6 h/day	36	16.39	7	8	41.67%	11.61	2	9	30.55%	20.17	7	9	44.44%
Academic activities	≥ 4 h/day	49	16.82	4	14	36.73%	12.0	2	14	32.65%	21.22	8	13	42.86%
Academic activities	< 4 h/day	51	16.43	7	11	35.29%	11.25	4	10	27.45%	20.9	13	8	41.18%
Social media	≥ 2 h/day	45	19.02	6	15	46.67%	12.71	1	14	33.33%	23.02	8	12	44.44%
Social media	< 2 h/day	55	14.65	5	10	27.27%	10.73	5	10	27.27%	19.45	13	9	40.00%
Sleep	≥ 7 h/day	62	15.87	7	14	33.87%	10.97	4	14	29.03%	20.87	17	10	43.55%
Sleep	< 7 h/day	37	17.95	4	11	40.54%	12.70	2	10	32.43%	21.62	4	11	40.54%
Eating	Regular	15	10.133	0	2	13.33%	7.0673	0	1	6.67%	13.87	1	1	13.33%
Eating	Irregular	85	17.765	11	23	40%	12.42	6	23	34.12%	22.33	20	20	47.06%
Time management	Good	60	17.75	6	14	33.33%	11.40	4	15	31.67%	22.70	14	11	41.67%
Time management	Poor	40	15.87	5	11	40.00%	11.77	2	9	27.50%	19.97	7	10	42.50%
Alcohol use and smoking	No	32	16.62	5	8	40.63%	11.06	2	8	41.25%	19.75	8	6	43.75%
	Occasional	32	16.81	4	7	34.38%	11.25	3	6	28.13%	22.00	6	7	40.63%
	Frequent	36	16.44	2	10	33.33%	12.44	1	10	30.56%	21.39	7	8	41.67%
Illicit substances use	No	75	16.51	9	19	37.33%	11.25	6	16	29.33%	20.91	17	15	42.67%
Illicit substances use	Yes	25	16.96	2	6	32.00%	12.72	0	8	32.00%	21.52	4	6	40.00%

Self-perception		N total	Depression				Anxiety				Stress
Self-perception		N total	Average score	Severe (n)	ES (n)	SES (%)	Average score	Severe (n)	ES (n)	SES (%)	Average score	Severe (n)	ES (n)	SES (%)
Likes the University	Yes	86	15.37	10	19	33.72%	11.12	3	20	26.74%	20.30	17	16	38.37%
Likes the University	No	14	24.29	1	6	50.00%	14.71	3	4	50.00%	25.71	4	5	64.29%
Has friends in medical school	Yes	81	15.01	9	17	32.1%	10.49	3	18	25.93%	20.00	15	16	38.27%
Has friends in medical school	No	19	23.47	2	8	52.63%	16.42	3	6	47.37%	25.58	6	5	57.89%
Perceives inclusion by colleagues	Yes	51	11.57	3	7	19.61%	8.82	0	11	21.57%	17.53	7	7	27.45%
Perceives inclusion by colleagues	No/sometimes	49	21.88	8	18	53.06%	14.53	6	13	38.78%	24.73	14	14	57.14%
Perceives support from professors	Yes	75	14.83	8	15	30.67%	10.91	4	17	28.00%	19.41	15	13	37.33%
Perceives support from professors	No	25	22.00	3	10	52.00%	13.76	2	7	36.00%	26.00	6	8	56.00%
Relationship with family	Satisfactory	69	13.74	5	12	24.64%	9.45	3	13	23.19%	18.61	15	7	31.88%
Relationship with family	Unsatisfactory	31	23.03	6	13	61.29%	16.45	3	11	45.16%	26.52	6	14	64.52%
Relationship with professors	Satisfactory	66	12.09	6	9	22.73%	9.03	2	12	21.21%	17.36	12	7	28.79%
Relationship with professors	Unsatisfactory	34	25.41	5	16	61.76%	16.65	4	12	47.06%	28.24	9	14	67.65%
Relationship with friends	Satisfactory	65	12.58	4	10	21.54%	7.94	1	9	15.38%	17.08	10	7	26.15%
Relationship with friends	Unsatisfactory	35	24.11	7	15	62.86%	18.46	5	15	57.14%	28.46	11	14	71.43%
Considers leave of absence	Yes	64	21.47	10	23	51.56%	13.97	6	18	37.50%	24.12	17	17	53.12%
Considers leave of absence	No	36	8	1	2	8.33%	77.44	0	6	16.67%	15.61	4	4	22.22%

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Instituto de Psicologia, Universidade de Brasília Instituto de Psicologia, Universidade de Brasília, 70910-900 - Brasília - DF - Brazil, Tel./Fax: (061) 274-6455 - Brasília - DF - Brazil
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[TFN1] Note: The total N was 100, therefore the n for each symptom severity grade corresponds to the percentage.