The exams periods are commonly reported to be stressful experiences. The relationship between perceived stress and resilience is well established, however, the relationship with cortisol remains unclear. Considering the stressful environment provided by the university and the lack of studies in the Brazilian context, this study aimed to evaluate and associate perceived stress, resilience and salivary cortisol in pharmacy students during the exams period. Seventy-nine pharmacy undergraduates answered questionnaires related to perceived stress and resilience and collected five saliva samples in an exam and a rest day for cortisol measures at the final exams at the end of the school year. They reported higher scores of perceived stress and intermediate resilience. Women are less resilient and their total cortisol output (AUC) on exams day is significantly higher compared to the rest day, but this difference tends to disappear over the academic year or at the end years. Furthermore, they exhibited cortisol rhythmicity and preserved CAR, with no changes in a short period by the exams, indicating normal, healthy and adaptive HPA-axis reactions to stressors. This study highlighted that students can adapt to stressful situations due to a modulation in the production of cortisol over the time.

考试期间通常被认为是压力大的经历。感觉到的压力和弹性之间的关系已经很好地建立，但是，与皮质醇的关系仍然不清楚。考虑到大学所提供的压力环境以及巴西语境下的研究不足，本研究旨在评估和关联考试期间药房学生的感知压力，适应能力和唾液皮质醇。七十九名药学专业的大学生回答了与感知到的压力和适应力有关的问卷，并在学年结束时的一次考试和休息日的最后一次考试中收集了五份唾液样本以进行皮质醇测定。他们报告了较高的感知压力和中等弹性。妇女的弹性较弱，考试当天的皮质醇总输出量（AUC）高于休息日，但这种差异在学年或学年末趋于消失。此外，他们表现出皮质醇的节律性和保存的CAR，在短期内通过检查没有变化，表明对压力源的正常，健康和适应性的HPA轴反应。这项研究强调，由于随着时间的推移，皮质醇的产生受到调节，学生可以适应压力大的环境。