Female medical students showed significantly higher levels of academic stress, overload, and exam anxiety than male students, with poor sleep quality identified as a significant factor associated with higher stress levels (OR = 1.12; 95% CI: 1.03–1.22) and female gender associated with a higher probability of reporting stress (OR = 5.56).
Female medical students reported significantly higher levels of academic overload than male students.
Female medical students reported significantly higher levels of exam-related anxiety than male students.
Female medical students showed a substantially higher probability of reporting academic stress compared to male students.
Poor sleep quality was identified as a significant factor associated with higher academic stress levels in medical students.
Academic overload and exam anxiety were identified as significant factors associated with medical students' well-being.
The study identified a need for gender-sensitive psychoeducational interventions that promote healthy sleep habits, stress management, and physical activity recommendations.
This research suggests that medical students experience significant academic stress, and that this stress is not equally distributed between men and women. Female medical students were much more likely to report high levels of stress — about five and a half times more likely than their male peers — and they reported higher levels of academic overload, emotional demands, and exam-related anxiety. Female students also differed in how they prepared for exams. These findings point to meaningful gender-based differences in how medical school pressures are experienced and managed. The study also found that sleep quality plays an important role in academic stress levels. Students with poorer sleep quality were more likely to report higher stress, even after accounting for other factors. Physical activity was also examined as a lifestyle factor alongside sleep. The researchers used several well-validated questionnaires to measure stress, sleep, and physical activity, and conducted statistical analyses to identify which factors were most strongly linked to perceived stress — importantly, the focus was on how stressed students felt, not on their actual grades. This research suggests that medical schools may benefit from designing support programs that are tailored to gender differences in stress experience and coping, and that addressing sleep habits could be a practical avenue for reducing student stress. The authors call for psychoeducational interventions that combine stress management techniques with guidance on sleep and physical activity, particularly ones sensitive to the distinct pressures faced by female students in medical education.
Lagares-Franco C, Viñolo Gil M, O Ferrall González C, López Ruiz H, García-Campanario I. (2026). Association between psychoeducational factors and perceived academic stress in medical students: a gender-based analysis.. BMC medical education. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-026-08770-2