CHAPTER 1: THE PROBLEM AND ITS SCOPE

Introduction

In the complex landscape of education, Senior High School students often

having hard time handling with academic stress, a challenge that can significantly

impact their well-being. This research aims to unravel the complex dynamics of

academic stress among Senior High School students and shed light on the coping

mechanisms they employ to navigate this stress. As these students face heightened

academic expectations, looming exams, and social pressures, understanding effective

coping strategies becomes important.

Firstly, academic stress is a form of mental suffering brought on by the

frustration of potential academic failure or simply the ignorance of such possibility

(Mohsen, 2017) and awareness is crucial for students' mental health. The pressures

associated with exams, assignments, and high expectations can contribute to anxiety

and depression. By recognizing the signs of stress, students can take proactive steps

to manage their mental health, seeking support when needed and adopting coping

mechanisms that promote emotional well-being.

The significance of understanding academic stress for students cannot be

overstated as it directly impacts their overall well-being, educational success, and

future prospects. In this research, we will explore the importance of recognizing and

addressing academic stress in the lives of students.

Through a comprehensive investigation involving survey questionnaire, this

study seeks to identify the primary stressors influencing Senior High School students

1
and aims to provide a deep understanding of the sources contributing to academic

stress.

Furthermore, the study aims to uncover and evaluate the coping mechanisms

employed by Senior High School students in response to academic stress. Whether it

be diverting their attention to other hobbies or embracing mindfulness practices, these

coping mechanisms play a pivotal role in determining how students manage and

overcome the challenges associated with academic stress.

Ultimately, the insights gained from this research endeavor aim to contribute

valuable knowledge to educators, parents, and co-students, enabling them to create

more supportive environments and implement targeted interventions to enhance the

overall well-being of senior high school students.

2
Theoretical Background of the Study

This study is theoretically anchored from the theory of Campbell-Philips et al.

(2020) named as Academic Stress Theory. According to this theory, personal

inadequacy, fear of failure, interpersonal difficulties with teachers, teacher-students

relationship, and inadequacy study facilities were concerns of academic stress due to

high expectations of teachers, unfriendly attitude of teachers towards the students,

lack of interest in subjects, lacks of interest of the subject, lack of confidence and

concentration, and worriedness about exams.

This theory will be used by the researcher as the basis of this study to identify

the academic stress and coping mechanism of the Senior High School students in San

Miguel National High School.

Theoretical Framework of the Study

Figure 1: Flow Chart of the Theoretical framework of the study based on

Campbell-Phillips’ Academic Stress Theory

3
Conceptual Framework of the Study

Independent Variable Dependent Variable

Figure 2: Schematic Diagram of the Conceptual Framework of the Study

The figure above shows the pattern of investigation of the study. Student’s

stressors that results to academic stress is the independent variables as they are

presumed to influence the dependent variable which is the coping mechanisms. The

study aims to explore how different academic stressors impact the coping mechanisms

adopted by senior high school students.

4
Review of Related Literature and Studies

The aim of this chapter is to review the literature and studies available on this

research study to determine whether the students have academic stress and coping

mechanisms and that will benefit them when they start studying. It will examine the

different kinds of coping mechanism when they deal with stress.

Related Literature

Academic stress is one of the biggest causes of stress, anxiety, and depression

among students. It reduces motivation, hinder academic achievement, and lead to

increase of drop-out rates.

Stressors are the circumstances that disrupt, or threaten to disrupt, individuals,

‟daily functioning and cause people to make adjustments” (Auerbach and

Grambling,2010).

Reddy et al. (2018) in their study concludes that stream wise difference in

stress does exist in students. It is important to deal with stress at personal, social and

institutional level. Remedies such as feedback, yoga, life skills training, mindfulness,

meditation and psychotherapy have been found useful to deal with stress. To identify

the main reason of stress is the key to deal with it. Professionals can develop tailor

made strategies to deal with stress. The integrated well-being of the students is

important not only for the individual but for the institute as well.

Khan and Kausar (2013) concluded that stress definitely impacts the academic

performance in a negative way though no significant difference was found as per the

gender. The difference was evident between junior and senior students. Stress, for

5
sure, affects the ability to study efficiently and managing the time. Studying regularly

is important, this helps reduce the academic pressure and helps them fulfill their goals.

According to Agolla (2009) stress has become an important topic in academic

circles. Many philosophers have carried out considerable research on stress and

concluded that this topic needs way more attention. Radcliff and Lester (2003) studied

the anticipated stress among final year undergraduate students and acknowledged

that class assignments, not enough guidance, pressure to mingle and to get

associated were the reasons for the stress to build up. McKean et al. (2000) argue

that undergraduate students experience higher stress at expected times in each

semester. Academic engagements, financial pressures and lack of time management

skills lead to building up of stress. Excessive stress can affect well-being, emotional

attitude and academic performance. There upon it becomes essential that

undergraduate students establish methods to deal with stressful situations.

Academic performance is affected by several factors, whether internal or

external (Bello & Gumarao, 2016). Stress is one of the factors that affect the academic

performance of students. A study conducted by Crego et al. (2006) stated that

academic stress might compromise student’s performance. Another study conducted

by Kötter et al. (2007) mentioned that increased stress leads to decreasing

performance, increasing stress. With this, stress is revealed to have a significant

relationship with academic performance.

6
Related Studies

The following studies which have bearing to this study are hereby included:

Foreign Studies

The mental health of university students has been a growing concern in recent

years (Milojevich and Lukowski, 2016). Various studies have demonstrated the high

frequency of psychological symptoms associated with this stage of education (Blanco

et al., 2008; Kim et al., 2015), with stress being one of the psychosocial problems that

have become prevalent (Deasy et al., 2014; American College Health Association,

2018; Gustems-Carnicer et al., 2019)

Non-academic demands include change of where they live; the need to create

new social relationships; conflicts with partners, family, or friends; money worries; and

concerns about future work (Howard et al., 2006; Galatzer-Levy et al., 2012; DeRosier

et al., 2013; Beiter et al., 2015). Stress can bring with it significant harm to the student’s

academic performance (e.g., reduced ability to pay attention or to memorize, less

dedication to study, and more absences from class) (Chou et al., 2011; Turner et al.,

2015), as well as to the student’s physical and psychological health (e.g., substance

abuse, insomnia, anxiety, and physical and emotional exhaustion) (Waqas et al., 2015;

Schönfeld et al., 2016). These harmful effects have triggered interest in the

identification of individual psychological resources that could be protective factors

against the inherent stressors of the university context (Tavolacci et al., 2013). These

resources would modulate the relationship between the potential threats and the

stress response, encouraging better psychological adjustment (Leiva-Bianchi et al.,

7
2012). Two of the most widely studied resources are coping strategies and self-

efficacy.

Despite the documentation of more than 400 coping strategies (Skinner et al.,

2003), they are generally categorized into two broad types (for a complete

categorization, see Zimmer-Gembeck and Skinner, 2016): approach (also called

active) strategies and evasive (or disengagement) strategies. Approach strategies

involve cognitive and behavioral mechanisms aimed at making an active response to

the stressor, directly changing the problem (primary control) or the negative emotions

associated with it (secondary control). This category includes strategies such as

planning, taking specific action, seeking support (instrumental and emotional), positive

reappraisal of the situation, or acceptance. Evasive strategies are those which involve

cognitive and behavioral mechanisms used to evade the stressful situation, such as

distraction, denial, and wishful thinking. Based on this classification, there is a broad

consensus that approach strategies are related to good academic, physical, and

psychological adjustment (Clarke, 2006; Syed and Seiffge-Krenke, 2015; Gustems-

Carnicer et al., 2019), whereas evasive strategies usually mean maladaptive

consequences for the students (Tavolacci et al., 2013; Deasy et al., 2014; Skinner et

al., 2016; Tran and Lumley, 2019).

It stated from the work of Ping Qi and Tinchang Wu (2004), heavy study tasks,

difficult courses, unreasonable learning ways including high standards could be

representing the stresses encountered by senior high school student.

Archer (2003), they stated that stress reactions to various situations affected

the overall level of the person’s health. They felt always overwhelmed in times of eating

poorly, sleepless and overwhelmed those stressful events, which presented by the

8
literature and studies that deals with those related stress to the study in times of

feelings and emotions of those college students.

Another study by Bello & Gumarao (2016), aimed to determine the student’s

stress level and coping mechanisms and their relationship to academic performance.

The result of the study showed that there is no significant relationship between stress

and academic performance. However, there is a significant negative relationship

between avoidant coping strategies and academic performance. The more avoidant

coping strategy is used, the lower the academic performance of the respondents.

Local Studies

Based on the study of Mazo (2015) entitled, “Causes, Effects of Stress, and the

Coping Mechanism of the Bachelor of Science in Information Technology Students in

A Philippine University” this study sought to determine the causes of stress, the effects

of stress, and the stress coping mechanisms of Bachelor of Science in Information

Technology students in the Leyte Normal University, Tacloban City. It tested some

assumptions using the descriptive survey method with 51 respondents. Thesis

writing/research and school requirements/projects were the most common causes of

stress. Sleepless nights and irritable/moody feeling were the common effects of stress.

There was disparity on the causes and effects of stress between the male and female

respondents. The use of computer and praying to God were the common stress coping

mechanisms. There was an observed disparity between the male and female

responses.

Blona (2005) claims that students experience stress since some are trying to

cope with the demands of adapting to a new living environment, new peers, academic

9
pressure, and sexual concerns. Being in college can also put financial stress on the

students and their families. These situations can leave them with trembling hands,

tense, muscles, migraine, headache, and multiple other symptoms of stress

performance or reduce the student to ineffectiveness.

Salvacion (2004) studied the stress profile of students in the College of

Dentistry of the University of the Philippines, Manila. The study involved 149 dentistry

student-respondents. Academic stressors like examinations and grades, fully loaded

days, difficulty in completing clinical requirements, and fear of getting delayed topped

the identified stressors. Academic factors were stressful in the first 3 years levels.

Academic stress peaked during the sophomore year. No significant differences in

rankings were observed between genders. There was undeniable similarity in the

general stress profile of the different year levels. Common methods of coping with

stress were employed by students which include crying, praying, talking, watching

movies, and listening to music. Stress makes or breaks a person. It is like a two-edged

sword which can either motivate or stimulate a student to peak

Grandea (2006) used a descriptive research approach in studying the stress

and coping mechanism of college freshmen of South Ville International School and

Colleges. It involved 201 student-respondents. The student respondents experienced

high perceived stress. The identified main stressors were academics. The student-

respondents used positive stress coping mechanism. The perceived stress and coping

mechanisms of the student-respondents were independent of their profile.

It is also reported that when the students are facing with stress, they reverted

into different coping strategies. Activities during leisure time, good interaction with the

professors, guidance counselling and peer counselling are significant means to reduce

10
the level of stress of the students (Shaikh, et al, 2004). Thus, this study looked into the

level of perceived stress of male and female Senior High School students, sources of

stress as well as their coping strategies adopted to deal with stresses. The realities

mentioned prompted and motivated the researchers to conduct this study.

Furthermore, as the result of this study, the researchers will develop an action plan

which will be employed to the senior high school students in dealing with stress.

11
 THE PROBLEM

Statement of the Problem

The research seeks to investigate the prevalence and impact of academic

stress on senior high school students, exploring the multifaceted nature of stressors

within their educational environment. Additionally, the study aims to assess the coping

mechanisms employed by these students to manage academic stress and understand

the effectiveness of these strategies in promoting mental well-being and academic

stress.

Specifically, it aims to provide answers to the following questions:

1. What is the profile of the student respondents in terms of the following?

a) Age

b) Gender

c) Strand

2. What are the primary academic stressors experienced by Senior High School

students who are taking academic strand, including factors related to

coursework exams and future aspirations?

3. What are the primary academic stressors experienced by Senior High School

students who are taking Technical-vocational strand, including factors related

to coursework exams and future aspirations?

4. What are the primary academic stressors experienced by the entire Senior High

School, including factors related to coursework exams and future aspirations?

5. To what extent, do these stressors affects the student’s performance in school?

12
6. What primary coping mechanisms do Senior high school students commonly

employ to deal with academic stress?

7. To what extent, do these coping mechanisms effectively mitigates the impact of

academic stress?

8. To whom does Senior High School students open up to regarding their stress

problem?

13
Significance of the Study

The following entities will benefit from this study are students, parents,

teachers, future researchers, researchers.

Students: The findings of this study will be beneficial to the students because, with

the help of this research, they will be able to recognize their coping mechanisms

they lack in relation in academic stress. They will be aware of the coping mechanism

needed to establish in their academic stress and they will be able to improve

themselves as an outcome of their comprehension. Students will learn from this

research that value of knowing your coping mechanism.

Parents: Through this study, parents will be aware of their children’s coping

mechanisms and can also help enhance and improve them.

Teachers: Through this study, teachers will be able to know the percentage of

students who are experiencing Academic stress. Through this study, teacher may

purposely discover how many coping mechanisms do student possess and help

them alleviate academic stress.

Researchers: Through this study, researchers will help them accumulate different

activities that shapes how the solution will process.

Future Researchers: The outcome of the study is beneficial to future researchers.

This study may be one of the foundations that a new theory of learning will use.

14
Scope and Limitation of the Study

Scope of the Study

The study focuses on the perspective of the grade 11 and 12 both academic

and Technical-vocational strand’s students at San Miguel National High School

through printed questionnaires that will be given to the participants personally by the

researchers.

The center of attention of this study is the stressors that lead to academic stress

and how it affects every student’s life. It brings out the opinions of the participants and

helps them identify the possible effective coping mechanism as they go along with the

survey.

Limitation of the Study

This study will only cover the grade 11 and 12 Senior High School students both

Academic and Technical-vocational strands. The survey questionnaires are sorted so

they do not contain any harmful or sensitive subjects. This study doesn’t conclude

what the supposed coping mechanism that is effective to every student against stress,

but rather the opinions of the participants in this matter.

Research Methodology

This research defines the stressors that causes academic stress and the coping

mechanism of every Senior High School students at SMNHS. This chapter indicates

the methodology that was applied in the study. It contains the research design,

research environment, research respondents, research instrument, and research

procedures.

15
Research Design

This study is conducted using a survey research design which is survey to

gather data that will be relevant in this research. This study is all about academic stress

and coping mechanism of Senior High School students of San Miguel National High

School. Therefore, the result of the survey given to the participants will be combined

as well as to conclude the chosen stressor/s that the participants majorly picked and

to determine how effective their coping mechanism against academic stress.

Research Environment

This study was conducted at San Miguel National High School located in San

Miguel Bacong, Negros Oriental. The participants are assembled in their own advisory

classrooms to answer the questionnaires for more comfortable environment, while for

some students especially those who are currently having their work immersion, we

personally handed the questionnaires to them while they are waiting for their bus. The

researcher had already presented their letter of request to the teachers beforehand

the survey.

Research Respondents

The participants of this study are the entire grade 11 and 12 students of San

Miguel National High School both Academic and Technical-vocational strand with a

random sample size of 131 students enrolled in school year 2023-2024. The

questionnaires will be handed out personally by the researchers to the participants. In

answering it is better to fill all necessary details and questions to finer sorting of data.

16
Research Instruments

In this study, researchers chose questionnaire type of gathering data. The

questionnaire is a ten-item test that are relevant to the research topic. In some

numbers in the questionnaire, participants may skip according to their own chosen

answers. In answering it, in a more effectively way is to fill all necessary details and

questions to finer sorting of data.

Research Procedures

The researchers would obtain authorization and set up a timetable for the study.

After obtaining approval and scheduling the study, the researchers would provide the

questionnaires to all senior high school students at San Miguel National High School

and explain the purpose of the research. To provide their chosen answers, the

respondents would just check the appropriate boxes. The researchers would compute

the data using the appropriate statistical technique after gathering the questionnaires.

Statistical Treatment of Data

Percentage- this was used in presenting the total number of respondents in terms of

gender, age, and strand as well as the number of students who are experiencing

academic stress and also the coping mechanism of Senior High School Students and

how certain are the students that their coping mechanism they have chosen will

succeed.

Formula:

Percentage= x 100%

17
Weighted Average- is a type of mean that gives differing importance to the values in a

dataset. In contrast, the regular average, or arithmetic mean, gives equal weight to all

observations. The weighted average is also known as the weighted mean, and I’ll use

those terms interchangeably.

∑ 𝑥𝑛
𝑥̅ = 𝑛
Where:

o 𝑥̅ 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑎𝑣𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑣𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑥.

o ∑ 𝑥𝑛 = 𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑜𝑓 𝑛 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒𝑠.

o 𝑛 = 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒.

Scale Range Verbal Explanation

Description
1 1.00-1.80 Never It shows 1-20% of the stressors affecting the
student’s performance in school.
2 1.81-2.60 Rarely It shows 21-40% of the stressors affecting
the student’s performance in school.
3 2.61-3.40 Sometimes It shows 41-60% of the stressors affecting
the student’s performance in school.
4 3.41-4.20 Often It shows 61-80% of the stressors affecting
the student’s performance in school.
5 4.21-5.00 Always It shows 81-100% of the stressors affecting
the student’s performance in school.

Scale Range Verbal Explanation

Description
1 1.00-1.80 Very It shows 1-20% of the coping mechanism is
Ineffective effective.
2 1.81-2.60 Ineffective It shows 21-40% of the coping mechanism
is effective.
3 2.61-3.40 Neutral It shows 41-60% of the coping mechanism
is effective.
4 3.41-4.20 Effective It shows 61-80% of the coping mechanism
is effective.
5 4.21-5.00 Very It shows 81-100% of the coping mechanism
effective is effective.

18
OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS

Academic Stress- is a form of mental suffering brought on by the frustration of

potential academic failure or simply the ignorance of such possibility.

Alleviate- to make something bad, less severe.

Aspirations- it is a strong desire to achieve something high or great.

Coping Mechanism- ways to alleviate and manage stress.

Endeavor- to exert oneself to do or effects something, it is making and effort

Intrinsic- it is belonging to the real nature of a thing; not dependent on external

circumstances.

Mitigates- Is to reduce the intensity, impact and harmful effects of stress, risk of the

happenings.

Percentage- this was used for identify and presenting the percentage of people who

is stressed.

Primary Coping Mechanism- Based on this study, it refers to the top 3 most used

coping mechanism employed to deal with stress.

Primary Stressors- Based on this study, it refers to the top 3 most common stressors

experienced by the students.

Stress - This is a simply reaction of a people who have a lot of things to handle and it

can affect the mental and physical health of it.

Stressor -is an event or situation that causes stress.

19
 CHAPTER II: PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS, AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA

This chapter presents, analyzes, and interprets the data gathered in this study.

This chapter deals with the number, percentage, analysis, and interpretation of the

gathered data about the academic stress and coping mechanism of the Senior High

School students of San Miguel National High School.

The subjects of the study were asked to indicate their Age, Gender and Strand.

The data were taken mainly from the responses of the 131 Senior High School

students.

Table 1. The Profile of the Respondents in terms of Age

AGE FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE

16 25 19.08%
17 51 38.93%
18 40 30.54%
19 15 11.45%
TOTAL 131 100%

Table 1 shows the total number and percentage of the age range of 131

respondents. Based on the table, 25 respondents are 16 years old, 46 respondents

are 17 years old, 45 respondents are 18 years old, and 15 respondents are 19

years old. Respondents who are 17 years old are the majority with a percentage

of 38.93% followed by the respondents who are 18 years old with a percentage

of 30.54%, next by the respondents who are 16 years old with a percentage of

19.08% and the minority within the group which is the respondents who are 19

years old with a percentage of 11.45%.

This table implies that the majority of respondents are 17 years old.

20
 Table 2. The Profile of the Respondents in terms of Gender

GENDER FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE

FEMALE 54 41.22%

MALE 77 58.78%

TOTAL 131 100%

Table 2 shows the total number and percentage of male and female

respondents among Senior High School students. There are 77 male and 54 female

respondents, for a total of 131 respondents. Female respondents comprise a

larger percentage (41.22%) compared to male respondents (58.78%).

This table implies that the majority of the respondents are male.

Table 3. The Profile of the Respondents in terms of Strand

TRACK STRAND FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE

11-SMAW 23 17.56%

11-AP 18 13.74%
TECHNICAL
VOCATIONAL 12-SMAW 19 14.5%

12-AP 21 16.03%

11-ABM 17 12.98%

12-ABM 33 25.19%
ACADEMIC
TOTAL 131 100%

Table 3 shows the total frequency and percentage of the grade level and strand

of all the respondents. Based on the table, under the Technical Vocational, it consist

of 23 respondents from Grade 11-Smaw, 18 respondents from Grade 11-Ap, 19

21
respondents from Grade 12-Smaw, and 21 respondents from Grade 12-Ap. For

the Academic, 17 respondents from Grade 11-Abm and 33 respondents from

Grade 12-Abm. For the total of 131 respondents.

Figure 4. Response of the question “Are you experiencing stress in terms of

academic?’

6.70%

YES
NO

93.30%

Figure 4 presents the percentage of the students experiencing stress in terms

of academic. The majority of the respondents answered ‘yes’ with a total

percentage of 93.3% while only a few answered ‘no’ with a percentage of 6.7%.

This means that the majority of the Senior High School students in San

Miguel National High School are experiencing stress in terms of academic.

22
Figure 5. The overall percentage of the question “If yes, check the box for your

possible stressors of why you are experiencing stress. (Check all that apply)’’

in the Academic Strand and Technical Vocational Strand.

Figure 5 indicates the frequency of the stressors experienced by the

respondents. Based on the figure, the top five stressors experienced by the Technical

Vocational Strand students are ‘Lack of Time Management’ which consist of 31

responses, ‘Exam Pressure’ with 26 responses, ‘Coursework Overload’ with 16

responses, ‘Insufficient Sleep’ with 18 responses and lastly ‘Financial

Difficulties’ with 13 responses. In academic, the top five stressors are ‘Lack of

Time Management’ with 35 responses, ‘Exam Pressure’ with 34 responses,

‘Insufficient Sleep’ with 18 responses, ‘Coursework Overload’ with 16

responses and lastly ‘Financial Difficulties’ with 13 responses.

23
Figure 6. The overall percentage of the question “If yes, check the box for your

possible stressors of why you are experiencing stress. (Check all that apply)’’

in the entire Senior High school students.

Figure 6 shows the overall stressors faced by the respondents. Based on the

figure, starting from the lowest number of response which is ‘Parental

Expectation’ with 14 responses, followed by ‘Financial Difficulties’ with 16

responses, ‘Uncertainty about the future’ with 20 responses, ‘Peer Pressure’

with 26 responses, ‘Coursework Overload’ with 34 responses, ‘Insufficient

Sleep’ with 40 responses, ‘Exam Pressure’ with 60 responses and lastly ‘Lack

of Time Management’ with the highest number of responses with a total of 66.

This means that ‘Lack of Time Management’ got the highest responses

among the different coping mechanisms mentioned and ‘Parental Expectations got

the least responses.

24
Figure 7. Response of the question “Are the stressors above affecting your

performance in school?’’

11.76%

YES
NO

88.24%

Figure 7 presents the percentage of the responses of the students to the

question: “Are stressors above affecting your performance in school?’’. The majority

of the Senior High School students answered ‘yes’ with a percentage of 88.24% while

11.76% answered ‘no’.

This means that the majority of the stressors are affecting the

performance of the Senior High School students in school.

Table 8. Respondent’s response to the question, “If yes, in the scale of 1-5, 5 as

the highes rate, how much it affects your performance in school?”

ALWAYS OFTEN SOMETIMES RARELY NEVER 𝑥̅ VERBAL

(5) (4) (3) (2) (1) DESCRIPTION

𝑓 11 46 53 12 2 3.25 Sometimes

25
 Table 8 shows that the stressors above sometimes affects the student’s

performance in school with a weighted mean of 3.25 which conclude the verbal

description is sometimes.

. For ‘always’ got a rate of 5 with 11 responses, for ‘often’ got a rate of 4

with 46 responses, for ‘sometimes’ got a rate of 3 from 53 responses, for ‘rarely’

got a rate of 2 with 12 responses and for ‘never’ got a rate of 1 with 2 responses.

This means that mostly of the stressors sometimes affects the performance

of the Senior High School students in school.

Figure 9. Response of the question “What’s your coping mechanism/strategies

to deal with stress?’’

Eating a lot

Smoking

Traveling

Listening to Music

Drinking Alcohol

Reading Books

Surfing on Internet

Playing Online Games

Playing Sports

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Figure 9 represents the frequency of the coping mechanism employed to deal

with stress. Based on the figure, ‘Listening to Music’ got the highest responses

with a total of 75, followed by ‘Playing Sports’ with 50 responses, ‘Surfing on

26
Internet’ and ‘Playing Online Games’ with both 35 responses, ‘Eating a lot’,

‘Reading Books’ and ‘Traveling’ with both 25 responses and lastly ‘Smoking’

and ‘Drinking Alcohol’ with both 3 responses.

This means that the primary coping mechanism or strategies to

reduced stress of the Senior High School students of San Miguel National

High School is to ‘Listen to Music’, followed by ‘playing sports’, ‘surfing

on internet’ and ‘playing online games’.

Figure 10. Response of the question “Is your coping mechanism effective?’’

19.33%

YES
NO

80.67%

Figure 10 presents the percentage of the responses of the students to the

question: “Are your coping mechanism effective?” The majority of the respondents

answered ‘yes’ with a total percentage of 80.67% while 19.33% answered ‘no’.

This means that majority of the students’ coping mechanism are effective.

27
Table 11. Respondent’s response to the question, “If yes, in the scale of 1-5, 5

as the highest, rate how effective your coping mechansim.”

VERY EFFECTVE NEUTRAL INEFFECTVE VERY ̅

𝒙 VERBAL
EFFECTIVE INEFFECTIVE DESCRIPTION
(4) (3) (2)
(5) (1)
𝑓 20 29 37 2 1 3.76 Effective

Table 11 shows that the respondent’s coping mechanisms are effective with a

weighted mean of 3.76. For ‘very effective’ got a rate of 5 with 20 responses, for

‘effective’ got a rate of 4 with 29 responses, for ‘neutral’ got a rate of 3 from 37

responses, for ‘ineffective’ got a rate of 2 with 2 responses and for ‘very

ineffective’ got a rate of 1 with 1 response.

It further shows that the respondent’s coping mechanism are effective

with a weighted mean of 3.76 which conclude the verbal description is an

effective.

28
Figure 12. Response of the question “Is academic stress affecting your social

relationship with other people?’’

26.5%

YES
NO

73.5%

Figure 12 presents the percentage of the students whose academic stress is

affecting their social relationship with other people. The majority of the respondents

answered ‘yes’ with a total percentage of 73.5% and 26.5% answered ‘no’.

Since ‘yes’ got the highest answer then this means that the academic stress is

affecting the social relationship of the student’s with other people.

29
 Figure 13. Response of the question “Do you open up to someone about the

things in school that makes you feel stress?’’

41.5%
YES
NO
58.5%

58.5 %

Figure 13 shows the percentage of the students who open up to someone about

the things in school that makes them feel stress. 41.5% answered ‘no’ and 58.5%

answered ‘yes’ among the total of 100%.

This means that many of the respondents open up to someone about the things

in school that makes them feel stress.

30
 Figure 14. Response of the question “If yes, who do you open up?’’

Figure 15 indicates the frequency of the individuals that the respondents open

up to. Based on the figure, the majority of the respondents open up to their ‘friends’

with a total responses of 65, followed by ‘Family members’ with 44 responses,

‘girlfriend/boyfriend’ with 26 responses and lastly with the least number of responses

which are ‘Teachers’ and ‘Neighbor’ with 3 and 1 responses.

This means that opening to friends is has the highest number of responses

and neighbor has the lowest of the overall frequency of 70.

31
 CHAPTER III: SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND

RECOMMENDATIONS

This chapter contains the restatement of the problem, summary of findings,

conclusions and recommendations.

Restatement of the Problem

The research seeks to investigate the prevalence and impact of academic

stress on senior high school students, exploring the multifaceted nature of stressors

within their educational environment. Additionally, the study aims to assess the coping

mechanisms employed by these students to manage academic stress and understand

the effectiveness of these strategies in promoting mental well-being and academic

stress.

Specifically, it aims to provide answers to the following questions:

1. What is the profile of the student respondents in terms of the following?

a. Age

b. Gender

c. Strand

2. What are the primary academic stressors experienced by Senior High School

students who are taking academic strand, including factors related to

coursework exams and future aspirations?

3. What are the primary academic stressors experienced by Senior High School

students who are taking Technical-vocational strand, including factors related

to coursework exams and future aspirations?

32
4. What are the primary academic stressors experienced by the entire Senior High

School, including factors related to coursework exams and future aspirations?

5. To what extent, do these stressors affects the student’s performance in school?

6. What primary coping mechanism do Senior High School students commonly

employ to deal with academic stress?

7. To what extent, do these coping mechanisms effectively mitigates the impact of

academic stress?

8. To whom does Senior High School students open up to regarding their stress

problem?

33
Summary of Findings

The results presented herein were derived from analysis on the interpretation

of the data gathered.

1. Profile of the student-respondents in terms of the following questions:

a.) Age: Respondents who are of 16 years old has a percentage of

19.08%(25), followed by 17 years old respondents with the percentage

of 38.93%(51). Respondents who are 18 years old has a total of

30.54%(40), while the 19 years old respondents has the smallest

percentage with only 11.45%(15).

b.) Gender: Male respondents in this study consist of 77 or 58.78% and the

female respondents are 54 or 41.22%, for a total of 131(100%).

c.) Strand: In Technical Vocational, it consist of 23 respondents from Grade

11-Smaw (17.56%), 18 respondents from Grade 11-Ap (13.74%), 19

respondents from Grade 12-Smaw (14.5%), and 21 respondents from

Grade 12-Ap (16.03%). For the Academic, 17 respondents from Grade

11-Abm (12.98%) and 33 respondents from Grade 12-Abm (25.19). For

the total of 131 respondents (100%).

2. The top 3 primary stressors experienced by Senior High School students who

taking academic strand are ‘Lack of Time Management’ with 35 responses

followed by ‘Exam Pressure’ with 34 responses and lastly ‘Insufficient Sleep’

with a total of 22 responses.

3. The top 3 primary stressors experienced by Senior High School students who

taking Technical-vocational strand are ‘Lack of Time Management’ with 31

34
 responses followed by ‘Exam Pressure’ with 26 responses and lastly

‘Insufficient Sleep’ with a total of 18 responses.

4. The top 3 primary stressors experienced by the entire Senior High School

students are ‘Lack of Time Management’ with 66 responses followed by ‘Exam

Pressure’ with 60 responses and lastly ‘Insufficient Sleep’ with a total of 18

responses.

5. Based on the results 88.24% of the stressors affects the student’s performance

in school while 11.76% answered it did not affect. Supported by a weighted

mean of 3.25 which means that it sometimes affect their performance in school.

6. The top 3 primary coping mechanisms that Senior High School students

commonly employ to deal with academic stress are ‘Listening to Music’ with 75

responses, followed by ‘Playing Sports’ with 50 responses and lastly ‘Surfing

on Internet’ and ‘Playing Online Games’ with both 35 responses.

7. Based on the results 80.67% of the coping mechanisms of the respondents are

effective while 19.33% answered it is not effective. Supported by a weighted

mean of 3.76 which means that it effective.

8. The percentage of students who open up to someone when encountering

stressful events are 58.5% while 41.5% answered no. The respondents who

answered yes usually open up to their ‘friends’ with a total responses of 65,

followed by ‘Family members’ with 44 responses, ‘girlfriend/boyfriend’ with 26

responses and lastly with the least number of responses which are ‘Teachers’

and ‘Neighbor’ with 3 and 1 responses.

35
Conclusions

The recent study found that the most primary academic stressors experienced by

the entire Senior High School students, both Technical Vocational and Academic

Strand are lack of time management, exam pressure and insufficient sleep. This study

came to a conclusion that these stressors sometimes affects the student’s

performance in school. And based on the study’s finding, the coping mechanism

employed by the respondents are listening to music, playing sports, surfing on internet

and playing online games which are effective in alleviating academic stress. This study

also found that most of the respondents choose open up to their friends about the

things that makes them feel stress.

Recommendations

Based on the findings, the researchers made some recommendations as follows:

STUDENTS

 Students are encourage to have prior knowledge about what is academic stress

and how to deal with it.

 Students must be able to identify their stressors to be able to think of a good

way to alleviate academic stress.

 Students are encourage to manage their academic and leisure time more

efficiently to avoid stress.

 Have some activities that will assist them in preventing academic stress and for

them to know their coping mechanism/strategies.

36
 PARENTS

 This will help the parent’s guide, support and pay attention to their child’s well-

being in school.

 This will help the parent’s guide their children how to cope with the academic

stress.

 Parents should guide their child in time management skills. Teach them to

prioritize tasks, break down assignments into manageable steps, and set

realistic deadlines.

 Parents should be involved and support in their child’s academic journey

without being overbearing.

 Parents should teach their child to develop resilience by teaching them some

problem-solving skills and positive thinking strategies.

TEACHERS

 This will help them be aware of the symptoms of the students who are

experiencing stress in terms of academics.

 This will help them be able to help the students who are seeking support

(physically, emotionally and mentally).

 This will help them have an opportunity to teach the students the stress

management skills.

SCHOOL ADMINISTRATIONS

 The school shall implement a stress management program to the students.

37
 The school shall give a seminar to the teachers and staff on how to recognize

signs of stress and how to support students effectively to make a significant

difference.

 Schools shall implement the Work-life balance. There's time for engaging in

extracurricular activities, hobbies, and relaxation techniques to maintain a

balance between academic and personal life.

FUTURE RESEARCHERS

 Conduct Research over an extended period to best observe changes in stress

levels and coping strategies among Seniors High School students.

 Utilize both Quantitative and Qualitative methods to gain more comprehensive

understanding of the factors contributing to academic stress and effective

coping mechanism.

 Explore the role of Technology in alleviating academic stress, as well as it's

potential to provide more coping strategies.

38
 REFERENCES

A. BOOKS

Howard, D. E. (2006). Stress and mental health among college students:

overview and promising prevention intervention. In D. E. Howard, Stress
and mental health among college students: overview and promising
prevention intervention (pp. 91-124). New York City : New York, NY: Nova
Science Publishers .

Ryan, R. M. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic

motivation, social development, and well-being.

B. INTERNET SOURCES

Agolla, J. (2009, February). An assessment of academic stress among

undergraduate students: The case of University of Botswana. Retrieved
from Academic Journal: https://academicjournals.org/

Campbell-Phillips, S. &. (2020, February). Asian Journal of Advanced Research

and Reports. Retrieved from ResearchGate:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339412507_Academic_Stress_
among_Tertiary_Level_Students_A_Categorical_Analysis_of_Academic
_Stress_Scale_in_the_Context_of_Bangladesh

Clarke, A. (2006, February). Coping with Interpersonal Stress and Psychosocial

Health among Children and Adolescents: A Meta-Analysis. Retrieved
from ERIC: https://eric.ed.gov

Chou, P.-C. C.-M.-J.-J.-L.-H. (2011, May). BMC Public Health. Retrieved from
https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/

Deasy, C. C.-M. (2014, October). Psychological distress and lifestyle of

students: implications for health promotion. Retrieved from
Academia.edu: https://www.academia.edu/

Leiva-Bianchi, M. B. (2012, July). The Effects of Stress Coping Strategies in

Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms Among Earthquake Survivors. An
Explanatory Model of Post-Traumatic Stress . Retrieved from
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net

Schonfeld, P. B. (2016, October). The effects of daily stress on positive and

negative mental health: Mediation through self-efficacy. Retrieved from
Redalyc.com: https://www.redalyc.org

39
Skinner, E. E. (2003, March). Searching for the structure of coping: a review
and critique of category systems for classifying ways of coping.
Retrieved from PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/

Skinner, E. P. (2016, December). Retrieved from ResearchGate:

Shttps://www.researchgate.net

Tavolacci, M. L. (2013, August). Prevalence and association of perceived

stress, substance use and behavioral addictions: a cross-sectional
study among university students in France, 2009–2011. Retrieved from
BMC Public Health:https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com

Tran, A. a. (2019, January). Social Work in Mental Health . Retrieved from

ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net

Turner, J. B. (2015, November ). Students' perceived stress and perception of

barriers to effective study: Impact on academic performance in
examinations. Retrieved from ResearchGate:
https://www.researchgate.net

Waqas, A. K. (2015, March). Association of academic stress with sleeping

difficulties in medical students of a Pakistani medical school: A cross
sectional survey . Retrieved from ResearchGate:
https://www.researchgate.net

C. PERIODICALS/JOURNALS

Auerbach, M. a. (2010 ). Stress Management Psychological Foundations U.S.A

:Prentice- Hall, Inc., .

Blanco, C. O. (2008). Mental health of college students and their non-college

attending peers: results from the national epidemiologic study on
alcohol and related conditions . 1429-1437.s

Blona, R. (2005). Coping with stress in a changing world.

Mazo, G. N. (2015). Causes, effects of stress, and the coping mechanism of the
Bachelor of Science in Information Technology students in a Philippine
University. 71-78.

Milojevich, H. M. (2016). Sleep and Mental Health in Undergraduate Students

with Generally Healthy Sleep Habits.

Qi, P. &. (2004). Research and analysis of psychological state of college

students and the countermeasures. Modern Education Science, No.6.

40
Reddy, K. M. (2018). Reddy K. J, Menon K. R, Thattil A. Academic Stress and its
Sources Among University Students. Biomed Pharmacol J;11(1).

D. UNPUBLISHED THESIS/ DISSERTATIONS

Grandea, S. (2006). Stress and Coping Mechanism of College Freshmen of

Southville International School and Colleges as a Basis of a Focus Area
in Wellness Program. Unpublished Master’s Thesis. Pamantasang
Lungsod ng Maynila, Intramuros, Manila. .

Salvacion, M. S. (2004). Stress Profile of Students of the University of the

Philippines College of Dentistry. Unpublished Thesis. University of the
Philippines, Manila.

41