PERCEIVED STRESS AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF SENIOR HIGH

SCHOOL STUDENTS OF ASIAN DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION COLLEGE SY

2016–2017

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The government of the Philippines recently implemented RA 10533. It is a new

law adding two (2) more years in high school with specialized subject courses. This new

level is referred as Senior High School. Previously, students who finish the fourth year

high school level could be accepted into college level and choose the course program they

we want to take. With the K to 12 implementation, instead of going to college, the students

still need to undertake two additional years but with specialized subjects similar to colleges

courses, such as: Accountancy, Business and Management (ABM) strand, Science,

Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) strand, Humanities and Social

Sciences (HUMSS) strand, and General Academic (GA) strand, in line with the possible

course program the student will be taking for the college level.

This big change in the country’s education system has a great impact to the

different aspects of our community, especially to the students. This new level of high

school has a different curriculum from the lower high school levels. This change entails

higher demands for the students. Their subject courses are almost similar to college

courses. For instance, they have research paper requirements almost every semester and

have more academic workload.

Research has shown that academic workload has been one of the major sources of

high school students’ stress. Such stress comes from too much homework, unsatisfactory

academic performance, preparation for tests, lack of interest in a particular subject, and

teacher’s punishment. Normally, students encounter high level of stress when they
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receive lower grades. This is because some students link their grades with their future.

Academic stress is marked by overly high performance standards, with high levels of

worry, self-criticism of attention while preparing for or taking exams (Emmanuel, Adom

& Solomon 2014).

Academic stress is the product of academic related demands that exceeds the

adaptive resources available to an individual. If a student is unable to cope effectively

with academic stress, then serious psychosocial and emotional health consequences may

result. Students who experience mental and physical health problems are then at greater

risk for poor academic performance, thus increasing academic stress and perpetuating a

cycle of stress, maladaptive coping, and compromised health (Haines, Norris & Kashy,

1996).

According to Yumba (2008), students experience higher stress at predictable

times each semester because of the academic commitments, financial pressures, and lack

of time management skills. Once stress has become perceived negatively or has become

excessive, this can affect health, emotional state and academic performance. Hence, it is

important that undergraduate students develop effective strategies in order to manage

stressful situations.

Furthermore, new things, new events, and new experiences can cause stress to an

individual. It can also have an impact to a group of individuals encountering the same

event but may affect them differently or similarly. Big changes in the community is a

factor of stress to any individual.

Similar to other academic institutions, Asian Development Foundation College

adopted the Senior High School curriculum. Subsequently, four cases have already been
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reported where in a senior high school student has been brought to the school clinic due

to fainting. These incidents led the interest of the researcher to know the triggering factor

for the said incident and one of those factors was stress.

The researchers believed that the age group for senior high school students is a

crucial factor for them as they search for their identity and experience random shifts in

their mood. This led the researchers to be interested on knowing the perceived stress

encountered by this age group and how it is related with their academic performance.

This study aims to determine the correlation of the senior high school students’ perceived

stress from their academic performance. Perceived Stress will be measured through

Student-life Stress Inventory by Gadzella (1994) where students will answer the item

starting from “Not at All” to “Very Often”. Academic Performance will be measured

through a 100-item Scholastic Aptitude Test formulated by Asian Development

Foundation College, the same test administered to college freshmen students as an

Entrance exam. This research will be beneficial to the school, for them to be aware of the

conditions the students are experiencing thus, be able to address the status quo and help

the students.
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REVIEW OF REATED LITERATURE

Stress is a part of life. It is the combination of psychological, physiological, and

behavioral reactions that people have in response to events that threaten or challenge

them. It gives us our fight-or-flight mechanism and has helped the human race survive for

so long. The word “stress” was originally coined by endocrinologist, Hans Selye while he

was experimenting with the immune system of rats in his laboratory, borrowing from

engineering he decided the cause of the nonspecific reaction to a certain stimulus was

stress. However, too much stress is unhealthy. Stress can be good or bad. Sometimes, it is

helpful, providing humans with the extra energy or alertness they need. For example,

stress could give a runner the edge he or she needs to persevere in a marathon (Barlow &

Durand, 2013). In some cases, stress can also cause health complications or adverse

effects, such as fainting in school due to pressure or panicking while reciting in front of a

crowd.
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DISCUSSIONS:

Stress affects everyone differently but it can lead to a variety of health issues. And

since this study is to focus mainly on the senior high school students, the researchers also

included managing stress which is important to maintain a healthy and fulfilling student

life. It affects each student differently, some may get headaches or stomachaches, while

others may lose sleep or get depressed or angry. Students under constant stress may also

get sick a lot. Managing stress is important to staying healthy. It is impossible to

completely get rid of stress. The goal of stress management is to identify your stressors,

which are the things that cause students the most problems or demand the most of their

energy. In doing so, one can overcome the negative stress those things induce. Aiming

for effective stress management initially includes the proper recognition of stress, the

stressor, the manifestations, and its effect in one’s well-being (Barlow & Durand, 2013).

A survey commissioned by the Barrington High School in Rhode Island, recently

found that students are stressed-out, sleep-deprived, overloaded with homework and

willing to cheat. Three out of four students say they are often or always stressed by

schoolwork (Salit, 2016).