The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of different curing methods on the stress generated by the polymerization shrinkage of a restorative composite in two moments: immediately after light exposure and after 5 min. Photoactivation was performed using two different light sources: (1) xenon plasma arc (PAC) light (1,500 mW/cm2 - 3s) and (2) a quartz-tungsten-halogen (QTH) light with three light-curing regimens: continuous exposure (40 s at 800 mW/cm2 - CL); soft-start (10 s at 150 mW/cm2 and 30 s at 800 mW/cm2 - SS) and intermittent light [cycles of 4 s (2 s with light on at 600 mW/cm2 and 2 s of light off), for 80s - IL]. The composite resin was applied between two 5-mm diameter metallic rods, mounted in a servohydraulic machine. The maximum stress was recorded immediately after light exposure (FF) and after 5 min (5F). The results were submitted to ANOVA and Tukey's test (5%). For each method, the results obtained in FF and 5F were, respectively: CL (3.58 and 4.46 MPa); SS (2.99 and 4.36 MPa); IL (3.11 and 4.32 MPa) and PAC (0.72 and 3.27 MPa). The stress generated by the polymerization shrinkage during light exposure can be associated with the photoactivation method used. A significant increase in the stress level was observed during the post-curing period up to 5 min, for all evaluated methods.