The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of emotional factors in temporomandibular disorders (TMD) in university students. The universe of this study consisted of 696 students of both sexes, from the University of Passo Fundo (UPF)-RS, who signed the free and informed consent term and received the Fonseca's Questionnaire, in order to verify the level of TMD and the Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS), to evaluate the degree of stress level, at the beginning and end of the semester, beginners and graduating students. Data were tabulated and statistically analyzed using the Chi-Square test, with the significance level of 5%. From the total, 489 (70.25%) subjects had some degree of TMD, being the light TMD the most prevalent (309) in all areas of knowledge, with no statistical difference between the studied areas (p= 0.004). There was correlation between TMD and stress-SRRS (r= 0.217). There is a low percentage of individuals who are free from TMD. The correlation between TMD and stress was weak in all studied groups, regardless the area of knowledge, academic period and school grade.