Estrategias de afrontamiento al estrés en estudiantes universitarios de La Paz

Coping with stress involves a series of actions in response to a specific concern and represents an attempt to regain balance. The present research aims to describe the coping strategies most commonly used by students from private universities in the city of La Paz and to determine whether there are any differences based on gender or faculty.The approach was quantitative, with a descriptive-comparative type, nonexperimental cross-sectional design. The analysis was based on the application of the Coping Strategies Inventory by Cano, Rodríguez, and García, which has a Cronbach’s Alpha of 0.835, and the responses are of the Likert type. The sample consists of 503 university students aged 18 to 29. Among the significant results, and through the application of the chi-square statistic, it was observed that young people mainly use coping strategies focused on cognition. Therefore, these strategies lead to constant personal reflection; however, inadequate management of them generates high levels of stress, causing physical and mental health problems. As a result, a program is proposed to better identify and manage these coping strategies.