Association between social skills and academic stress among first-year undergraduate medical students

This cross-sectional, quantitative study examined the association between academic stress and social skills among first-year undergraduate medical students during the basic cycle. Conducted from July to September 2023 at Centro Universitário Christus Campus Parque Ecológico in Fortaleza, Brazil, the study involved 119 medical students (72.3% female, mean age 23 ± 5 years). Data were collected using an adapted Academic Stress Scale, a validated 40-item Social Skills Questionnaire (CHASO), and a sociodemographic instrument. The median academic stress score was 2.85 (Q1 = 2.38; Q3 = 3.38). The primary sources of stress reported were lack of time to complete academic activities (54.6% strongly agreed), insufficient information regarding academic decisions (28.6% strongly agreed), and the distribution of course activities (25.2% strongly agreed). In terms of social skills, the lowest scores were observed in “Dealing with situations of exposure to ridicule” (mean = 8.9 ± 3.1), “Interacting with strangers” (mean = 10.5 ± 3.4), and “Defending one’s rights” (mean = 11.4 ± 4.4). Multivariate analysis revealed that higher academic stress was significantly associated with poorer social skills in multiple domains. The largest negative effects were found in “Interacting with people I’m attracted to” (β = − 0.397; 95% CI: − 0.71 to − 0.08) and “Facing criticism” (β = − 0.329; 95% CI: − 0.58 to − 0.07). Additionally, male students scored higher than females in public speaking and in maintaining calm when facing criticism ( p < 0.05). These findings suggest that elevated academic stress adversely affects social skill proficiency in first-year medical students, highlighting the potential benefit of targeted social skills training in this population.