Niveles de la ansiedad social en estudiantes de Medicina en el período académico 2024-2025

Abstract

Social anxiety (SA) is an increasingly relevant problem in the mental health of university medical students, largely due to the high academic, psychological and social demands they face during their study process, which can have a significant impact on their academic performance and general well-being. In this context, the general objective of this research was to determine the levels of social anxiety in third and ninth cycle students of Medicine at the University of Cuenca in the academic period 2024-2025. The methodology used was quantitative, non-experimental, cross-sectional and descriptive in scope. A total of 130 medical students participated in the study, 95 of whom belonged to the third cycle and 35 to the ninth cycle, to whom the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS) (Liebowitz, 1987) was applied. The results obtained revealed that the third and ninth cycle medical students present a slight level of social anxiety (43.07%). Likewise, it shows as a predominant dimension social anxiety in performance situations (M=32.96; SD=16.60), while, at subscale level, the intensity of fear or anxiety stands out (M=30; SD=15.25). As for the demographic variables, being a graduate student, being female, being single and living in rural areas were associated with a higher prevalence of moderate social anxiety. In conclusion, this study has revealed essential information on how studying medicine, combined with other factors, influences the presence of social anxiety.