Recreation and stress reduction in university students

Introduction. Stress is a reality that affects students manifesting itself in moderate to profound levels. Objective. To decrease the levels of academic stress in students of a Higher Education Institution located in Quito-Ecuador by means of a recreational program. Method. The research method was descriptive, hypothetical-deductive and analytical-synthetic, through a quasi-experimental design. Results. The following frequencies of initial stress levels were obtained: mild (5) with 16,7%, moderate (18) with 60% and deep (7) with 23.3% and after the recreational activities the following post-test was obtained: mild (7) with 23.3% and moderate (23) with 76,7%. Discussion and conclusions. The Student T-test of related samples was used, reaching a significance value of 0,003, demonstrating that the recreational program applied was effective and is considered highly useful to be applied in different periods and students of higher levels.