CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Stress is characterized as the body’s general reaction to demands placed on

it or to upsetting events occurring in the surroundings. It is a process by which

people perceive and respond to environmental hazards and challenges rather than

just a stimulus or a reaction. In school, Academic stress is prone to the students

because of pressures that comes from family expectations, ambitious goals of the

students set for themselves or the demands placed on them by society at large.

Academic stress involves mental distress regarding anticipated academic challenges

or failure or even the fear of the possibility of academic failure.

According to Krishnan Lal (2013), kids today are dealing with new educational

obstacles that demand more effort from them. In addition, the society places

significant demands on students to fulfil a variety of roles, many of which are ill-

defined, inconsistent, and impossible to fulfil in the current socio-cultural, economic,

and bureaucratic contexts of our society. This causes significant stress, particularly

for high school students. The transitional stage, which is a stage between childhood

and adulthood, is experienced by students in their teens. According to popular belief,

stress is brought on by a variety of issues, including those that people face at work,

school, or in their communities. According to Sunstar (2018), the learning process is

the most crucial component of the academic stress experienced by high school

pupils on a nationwide scale. Since academic works or activities are unavoidable in

the school setting, the performance of these constituents plays a significant influence

in lowering academic achievements that are linked to what people value while
reducing stress. Even those who are wealthy, physically attractive, or cheerful can

suffer from this type of stress. Stress typically occurs when there are too many

assignments and activities to do, as well as when there is an exam or quiz. An

emotional, mental, and physical health particularly our behaviour. The most frequent

causes of stress in the field of education can make students fearful and anxious.

Locally, according to Cuerpo J. Stretching is a key factor in how a child

succeeds academically in 2017 According to a study on learning theories conducted

in 2000, pressure can improve learning capacity, but too much of it can have

negative effects on a young person's physical and emotional wellbeing. This puts the

young person's academic success in jeopardy. A person can easily adapt, yet it's

recognized that children adjust more easily than adults. However, as the demands

become excessively excessive, the adaptable capacities are significantly impacted.

This ultimately affects how well the students perform academically. Senior high

school students appeared to be under tremendous pressure due to an abundance of

homework, protracted exams, and performing tasks. It is the limited amount of time

for these essentials that is the problem, not the unfinished activity at hand. Another

study that looked at the effects of weight on wellbeing propensities, wellbeing status,

and confidence found that working long hours and carrying heavy loads are common

sources of stress. The academic strain that understudies are experiencing is

probably one of the growing pains of the senior high curriculum. However, it should

be highlighted that there may be serious consequences, for instance, to a student's

psycho-social and mental welfare, on the off chance that they are having trouble

adjusting to academic stress. 7.81% of the students at Ateneo de Davao University

are placed on academic probation, and in that program, stress is one of the factors
that contributes to this. Stress resulting from a combination of time constraints, test

anxiety, and a lack of study abilities the influence of management, peers, or parents.

Hence, this study was conducted to measure the level of Academic Stress

and Coping Mechanism of all Grade 12 HUMMS Students.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Theory is so different from practices question which he had been asked and

had answered in school and put in such unexpected forms in real life. He said

“Here’s the problem that has been solved by his preparation in college. He has not

failed, but he has been taught to face everything that come to him as a problem, not

something to be analyzed, to be studied, to be understand. He recovers himself to

face his new life, practical problem and after a little, he finds to that he has been

prepared for successful life. “We really take the good and depths of ourselves”.

At the last stage of your high school education, you are about to enter another

door of life which open out in vast fields of opportunities and choices. They are al

yours to take or reject. Make a decision that are solely your own responsibilities. This

is the time to make decisions which really shape your future. What do you want to

be? Are you willing to do to achieve what you want to be

Think of your creative abilities as mental muscles exercise and strengthen it

and visualizing its capacity. Whenever you have a good idea, write it down.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
INDEPENDENT VARIABLE DEPEDENT VARIABLE

LEVEL OF ACADEMIC
STRESS OF ALL GRADE 12- COPING MECHANISMS
HUMSS

Figure 1. Conceptual Framework

Figure 1 shows the independent variable and the intervening variable of the
study. The Independent variable of the study is the academic stressed encountered
by all Grade 12 HUMSS Marx students. The dependent variable of the study is the
coping mechanism of all the Grade 12 HUMSS of Sto. Nino National High School.
This will show how they would cope up from academic stress they are encountered
and what are the strategies to adjust to such stressful events in school and maintain
their emotional well-being. The variables that may questions the authenticity of the
result of the study includes peer pressure, parents involvement mental health status
and teacher’s involvement.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

This study generally seeks to determine the Level Academic Stress and

Coping Mechanism among Grade 12- HUMSS students of Sto. Nino National High

School.

Specially, it seeks to answer the following research questions:

1.) To determine the level of academic stress of Grade 12- HUMSS Students.

2.) To determine the coping Mechanisms of Grade 12- HUMSS Students?

3.) Is there a significant relationship between the level of academic and coping

mechanisms of Grade 12- HUMSS Students?

Research Hypothesis
Null Hypothesis

There is no significant relationship between the Level of academic stress and coping

mechanism among Grade 12- HUMSS students.

Alternative Hypothesis

There is significant relationship between the level of academic stress and the coping

mechanism among Grade 12- HUMSS Students.

Significance of the study

Stress can lead to poor academic performance and a loss of interest in social

activities. This study will help the school address the factors that contribute to

students experiencing stress, which can eventually lead to mental issues, vices,

depression or suicide.

School Guidance Coordinator- it will help the school guidance coordinator to

brainstorm ideas and program on how to assess the student’s mental health status in

this time of pandemic.

Teacher- it will them to communicate and check their students status from time to

time.

School- it will the school address the reason of dropped outs in Sto. Nino National

High School. Also, it will help to approve such recommendations of programs

coming from the school guidance coordinator.

Student- it will help better understand what academic stress and the coping

mechanisms is to overcome it and to maintain a healthy stable mental health status.

Parents- it will encourage the parent to be aware of the new normal setup of the

students learning. It will also help them to better understand the new normal set-up

and they should give their children a consideration and supervise them from time to

time.

Scope and Limitations

The parameter of this Research will be in Grade 12 HUMSS Students of Sto.

Nino National High School. In order to identify the Level of Academic Stress, the

researchers will only employ the Student Academic Stress Scale or SASS a self

report tool with “Yes” or “No” answers developed to assess students’ perceived

stress.

In addition, the researcher will utilize the Brief-COPE Inventory to measure

the Level of Coping Mechanisms of the Grade 12 HUMSS student in Sto. Nino

National High School. On the other hand, other senior High School strands and

sections that are not mentioned will not be subjected to the study.

Definition of terms

In order to ensure comprehensive analysis and precise understanding of this study,

the following terms are operationally defined:

Academic Stress- Conceptually as a student’s psychological state resulting from

continuous social and self-imposed pressure in a school environment that depletes

the student’s psychological reserves. Operationally refers as a negative reaction to

prolonged study in the Face-to-face class of grade 12 HUMSS students.

Mental Health-Conceptually, it is a state of well-being in which an individual realizes

his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work

productively and is able to make a contribution to his or her community.

Operationally, it refers to the mental health status of all Grade 12 HUMSS who

experienced Academic Stress

Peer Pressure-Conceptually, direct and indirect influence on people of peers,

members of social groups with similar interests, experience, or social status.

Operationally, it refers to all Grade 12 HUMSS who are categorized as an intelligent

and have an interest in complex things students on how they influenced each other

HUMSS- stands for Humanities and Social Sciences students with a wide range of

discipline with the use of their experiences and skill into the investigation and inquiry

of human situations by studying its behavior and social changes using empirical,

analytical, and critical method techniques.

 CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE (RRL)

This chapter presents the related literature and studies that are significant in

this study. This consist the journals book, journals and articles from internet sources

written by both foreign and local authors relevant to this research.

ACADEMIC STRESS

Academic concerns are the most important sources of chronic and sporadic

stress for young people in both Western and Asian countries (41). Academic stress

is defined as a student's psychological state resulting from continuous social and

self-imposed pressure in a school environment that depletes the student's

psychological reserves (42, 43). Students experience academic stress throughout

their secondary school (41), high school (44), and university (45, 46), educational

careers. Studies have shown that academic stress has been positively associated

with depression (41), PSQ (24, 47), and MPA (48) among students. Jayanthi

observed that, compared to adolescents who do not experience academic stress,

adolescents who experienced academic stress were 2.4 times more likely to have

depressive symptoms (41). Other studies have found that there is a relationship

between high academic stress and PSQ (47, 49). However, scholars have not

adequately addressed the adverse consequences (e.g., depression, PSQ, and MPA)

of Chinese students' academic stress. Hence, we propose the following hypotheses:

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

important not only for the individual but for the institute as well. Dimitrov (2017) in his

study claimed that stress can be addressed by ensuring that the students give

utmost importance to their welfare. Food, exercise, work, recreation are some of the

areas to focus on. He also concluded that the education system is more to do with

the academic qualifications and does not contribute enough to the holistic

development of students.

The Study results of Jayashankara Reddy, K., Karishmarajanmenon, MS.,

ans Anjanathattiil (2018) stated that the dimensions of academic stress differed

significantly among males and females and fear of failure was the only significant

dimension that varied with respect gender. Yashwant Kumar Nagle and Usha

Sharma (2019) observed that over a period of time, academic stress among students

has increased drastically due to parental expectation and competitive environment

among students . This has resulted in having harmful effect to the individual,

parents, society, and nation at large . In order to overcome such as issues, the

counsellors and health professionals must take initiative to create awareness among

the parents and teachers about their role in fostering a healthy environment. Dr.

Prabhu,M. and Mohan, G. ( 2014) noted that anxiety largely contributes to the stress

of students, hence teaching faculty and concentrate on addressing anxiety of

students, which will automatically reduce stress among the students, Sibnath Deb

(2015) found that the students reported feeling pressure from their parents for better

academic performance . The degree of parental pressure experience experiences

differed significantly across the educational levels of the parents, mother’s

occupation, number of private tutors, and academic performance. Abha Subba RAo
(2008) observed that schools and teachers can play a significant role in reducing

academic stress. IN some, administrators did not uniformly expect their students to

earn high marks in the exams; instead, students were told that they were expected to

‘meet their potential, ‘or perform to the best of their ability, this expectation was

associated with a certain degree of stress. Debyani Roy Bhowmick (2017) revealed

that high expectation of teachers/parents in terms of marks/grades, scolding from

teachers/parents followed by poor performance, excessive competition, financial

problem etc. are the factors causing stress among students. Rachana Parikh and

Madhuri Krishna (2019) noted that proximal environments (home, schools, peers and

neighbourhood) played a major role in causing stress in adolescent’s daily lives.

Salient social environments included academic pressure, difficulties in romantic

relationship, negotiating parental and peer influences, and exposure to violence and

other threats to personal safety. Nitin Joseph and Aneesha Nallapati (2020)

indicated that worrying about future and poor self-esteem was independently

associated with academic stress among students. Male students adopted more of

unhealthy means of coping with academic stress. Therefore, they need to be

educated regarding the healthy coping methods.

STRESS

Stress is a normal reaction the body has when changes occur, resulting in

physical, emotional and intellectual responses. Stress management training can help

you deal with changes in a healthier way. Stress is a normal human reaction that

happens to everyone. In fact, the human body is designed to experience stress and

react to it. When you experience changes or challenges (stressors), your body

produces physical and mental responses. That’s stress.

 Stress responses help your body adjust to new situations. Stress can be positive,

keeping us alert, motivated and ready to avoid danger. For example, if you have an

important test coming up, a stress response might help your body work harder and

stay awake longer. But stress becomes a problem when stressors continue without

relief or periods of relaxation.

Students in secondary and tertiary education settings face a wide range of

ongoing normative stressors, which can be defined as normal day to day hassles

such as ongoing academic demands. Accordingly, secondary/high school (defined

here as junior/lower secondary education and senior/upper secondary education)]

(UNESCO, 2012) and tertiary (defined here as post-secondary education)

(UNESCO, 2012) students commonly self-report experiencing ongoing stress

relating to their education, which we refer to as academic-related stress, such as

pressure to achieve high marks and concerns about receiving poor grades. For

example, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

recently conducted a survey involving 72 countries and consisting of 540,000 student

respondents aged 15–16 years. On average across OECD countries, 66% of

students reported feeling stressed about poor grades and 59% reported that they

often worry that taking a test will be difficult. The OECD further found that 55% of

students feel very anxious about school testing, even when they are well prepared.

As many 37% of students reported feeling very tense when studying, with girls

consistently reporting greater anxiety relating to schoolwork compared to boys

(OECD, 2017). This data demonstrates that education and academic performance

are a significant source of stress to students. The impact of this ongoing academic-

related stress to student outcomes and well-being has not been comprehensibly
explored. Therefore, the current narrative review explores the impact of academic-

related stress on students’ academic performance, mental health and well-being.

COPING MECHANISM

Coping Mechanism are the strategies people often use in the face of stress

and/or trauma to help manage painful or difficult emotions. Coping mechanisms can

help people adjust to stressful events while helping them maintain their emotional

well-being. Significant life events, whether positive or negative, can cause

psychological stress. Difficult events, such as divorce, miscarriage, the death of a

loved one, or the loss of a job, can cause most people to feel grief or distress. But

even events that are considered positive by many getting married, having a child,

and buying a home can lead to a significant amounts of stress. To adjust to this

stress, people may utilize some combination of behavior, thought, and emotion,

depending on the situation.

People may use coping mechanisms for stress management or to cope with

anger, loneliness, anxiety, or depression.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). In their daily lives, university students have to face a wide variety of demands,

both academic and non-academic, that could affect their well-being. Academic

demands include adaptation to a new context, overwork, insufficient time to do their

academic tasks, preparation for and doing of exams, and the pressure to perform
(Beiter et al., 2015; Vizoso and Arias, 2016; Erschens et al., 2018; Webber 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., 2012). Two of the most widely studied resources

are coping strategies and self-efficacy.

 Chapter 3

METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents an outline of research methods and procedures on how

the data will be collected to aim the objectives of the study. It provides information

about the research design, locale of the study, participants of the study, research

instrument, data gathering procedure and statistical treatment. Research design is

also described by the researcher as why it is chosen and its purpose in the study.

Research Design

This study will use a descriptive- correctional research design in order to measure

the Level of Academic Stress and Coping Mechanisms of Grade 12 HUMSS student

of Sto. Nino National High School amidst the face-to-face classes. In addition, the

study will also examine the correlation or relationship between the independent and

dependent variables.

Locale of the study

Figure 2. Map of Sto. Nino National High School, Sto. Nino, South Cotabato
This study will be conducted at Sto. Nino National High School. The chosen locale of

the study is a public high school that caters 5000 Junior High School and Senior

High School students which is topographically convenient for the researchers to

achieve the purpose of the study.

Respondents of the study

The Grade 12 Humss Students of Sto. Nino National High School, particularly

the students from Marx, Reinach, Dewey, Kant, and Locke will serve as the

respondents as they best suit to attain the purpose of the study.

Sampling Technique

The research sampling technique will be total enumeration because the 119

students from all the Grade 12 – HUMSS student of Sto. Nino National highschool

will all be subjected to this study and will serve as respondents.

Research Instrument

The researchers will the researchers will only employ the Student Academic

Stress Scale or SASS a self-report tool with “Yes” or “No” answers developed to

assess students’ perceived stress.

In addition, the researcher will utilize the Brief-COPE Inventory to measure

the Level of Coping Mechanisms of the Grade 12 HUMSS student in Sto. Nino

National High School.

Data Gathering Procedure

The researchers will write a letter to the office of the principal to secure

permission to conduct the study. Once the approval is granted, the researchers will

coordinate with the Registrar for the official list of all Grade 12 HUMSS students who
will serve as the respondents of the study. The researcher will prepare

questionnaires containing the interview questions to record the data after which the

data will transcribed and encoded. Once permission is granted, the researchers then

will ask willing participants to answer the questionnaire. Then, the researchers will

administer the questionnaires to one hundred nineteen (119) respondents. Once the

researcher obtained the data, it will then be analyzed and interpreted.

Statistical Treatment

After gathering the data from the respondents of the study, the data will be

analysed using a descriptive statistic and Pearson product moment of correlation

(Pearson r) to answer the specific problems and hypothesis of the study.

Mean and standard deviation will be used to measure the level of academic

stress and coping mechanisms among Grade 12 HUMSS students.

Formula for Mean

x=
∑ fx
N

Where:

∑ fx = is the summation of the products of the frequency and class mark

N = total number of population

Formula for Standard Deviation:

s=
√ ∑ f ( x−x ¿) ¿
N−1

Where:

∑f = total number of frequency

x = score
 x = mean

N = total number of population

Table 2. Likert scale for verbal interpretation of the participants’ level of academic
stress

SCALE RANGE VERBAL

INTERPRETATION

0 0.00 – 0.85 Extremely Low Extent

1 0.86 – 1.71 Very Low Extent
2 1.72 – 2.57 Low Extent
3 2.58 – 3.43 Moderate Extent
4 3.44 – 4.29 High Extent
5 4.30 – 5.15 Very High Extent
6 5.16 – 6.00 Extremely High Extent

Table 3. Likert scale for verbal interpretation of the participants coping mechanism
SCALE RANGE VERBAL INTERPRETATION

1 1.00 – 1.49 I haven't been doing this at all

2 1.50 – 2.49 A little bit
3 2.50 – 3.49 A medium amount
4 3.50 -4.00 I've been doing this a lot

Pearson r correlation will be used to measure the relationship of academic

stress and coping mechanism.

Formula for Pearson r

N ∑ xy−∑ x ∑ y
r=
√ ¿¿ ¿
Where:
x = the observed data for independent variable
y = the observed data for dependent variable
N = sample size
r = degree of relationship between x and y
Table 4. Quantitative interpretation of the degree of linear relationship

RANGE OF VALUES INTERPRETATION

± 1.00 Perfect positive (negative) correlation

± 0.91−± 0.99 Very high positive (negative) correlation
± 0.71−± 0.90 High positive (negative) correlation
± 0.51−± 0.70 Moderately positive (negative) correlation
± 0.31−± 0.50 Low positive (negative) correlation
± 0.01−± 0.30 Negligible positive (negative) correlation
0.00 No correlation