EMOTION REGULATION AND STRESS IN PHYSIOTHERAPY UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Emotion regulation (ER) might serve as a personal resource protecting against stress. However, there are no studies analyzing the effect of ER levels on academic stress among physiotherapy students, a highly stressful context. Thus, a study involving 504 physiotherapy students of several Spanish universities was performed. Using the Spanish adaptation of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, ER levels were measured. Through the Academic Stress Questionnaire, active coping strategies, perception of academic stressors and psychosomatic stress responses were measured. Results showed that higher levels of ER were related with the use of active coping. Moreover, higher levels of ER were related with less perception of academic stressors. Finally, higher levels of ER were associated with less psychosomatic manifestations of stress.