Effects of Depression to the Psychological Well-Being of Senior

Highschool Students in Riverside College Inc.

Chapter 1

Introduction

Background of the Study

Your mental and physical health are related to and rely upon one another. According to

Western Washington Medical Group (2023), the well-being of your mind and body are

interconnected and dependent on one another. When your body feels sick, your mood and mental

capabilities are affected; likewise, mental health greatly affects the physical health of your body.

Depression affects how your mind and body feel and react to everyday life. The symptoms may

occur gradually or after one or many qualifying life events. Depression can be confusing, lonely,

and can have a dramatic effect on an individual’s quality of life. According to the American

Psychiatric Association (2023) sadness and/or a loss of interest in previous hobbies are

symptoms of depression. It can impair your ability to perform at work and home and cause

several mental and physical issues.

According to Berry and Ames (2022), depression is a serious mental illness that can interfere

with a person’s life. It can cause long-lasting and severe feelings of sadness and hopelessness, as

well as a loss of interest in activities. Some people with depression may experience appetite
changes and sleep problems. Students experience a risk of low academic performance and

resistance to everything school-related. Their learning is further affected since psychological

depression can affect working memory, making it difficult to retain new information and recall

previously learned information. Although the problems facing senior high students are complex,

they have increased societal pressure to achieve success while not being equipped with the

necessary life skills.

In this light, the researchers aim to conduct the study to understand depression in youth

among students through exploratory research design to discover the factors affecting their

psychological and mental aspects and also to know what causes them to be emotionally

compromised which leads to a depressive state. In addition, the study seeks to have an in-depth

understanding of how they cope with depression. This study will utilize a semi-structured

interview to uncover the answers to our questions regarding youth depression and the reasons

within. It will also offer ideas to people especially those who are suffering from depression and

as well to provide awareness to the students themselves. Finally, recommendations are identified

to help researchers, parents, educators, and everyone who plays an important role in this matter.

We have to raise awareness of mental health in our community as the prevalence of mental

disorders has significantly increased over time. Health services should make health education for

students on how they deal with stress and depression through exercise and good sleep.
Statement of the Problem

Generally, this study aims to present the experiences of Senior High School students who

are affected by depression, which can affect their psychological well-being in school.

Specifically, this study gathered in-depth information about the following questions:

1.) As a depressed person, what are the things you think, do, or act around you that affect

your performance as a student and a human being?

2.) What are the result that affects your performance in school in terms of;

A. Family Problems

B. School Problems

C. Relationship Problems

3.) How difficult have these problems made it [for you] to do work, take care of things at

home, or get along with other people?

Theoretical Framework

This study was anchored on Behavioral Theory, saying that human behavior has nothing to

do with internal unconscious conflicts, repression, or problems with object representations.

Rather, a behavioral psychologist uses principles of learning theory to explain human behavior.
According to this theory, dysfunctional or unhelpful behavior such as depression is learned.

Since depression is learned, behavioral psychologists suggest that it can also be unlearned.

It was also anchored on Peter Lewinsohn Theory. According to Lewinsohn, depressed people

are precisely those people who do not know how to cope with the fact that they are no longer

receiving positive reinforcements like they were before. For example, a child who has newly

moved to a new school and has consequently lost touch with prior friends and classmates might

not have the social skills necessary to easily make new friends, have difficulty in academics and

could become depressed. Similarly, a students acts differently in school because of his problems

and encounters difficulty in his grades might become depressed. In the mid 1970s, Peter

Lewinsohn argued that depression is caused by a combination of stressors in a person's

environment and a lack of personal skills. More specifically, the environmental stressors cause a

person to receive a low rate of positive reinforcement. Positive reinforcement occurs when

people do something they find pleasurable and rewarding. According to learning theory,

receiving positive reinforcement increases the chances that people will repeat the sorts of actions

they have taken that led them to receive that reinforcement. In other words, people will tend to

repeat those behaviors that get reinforced. For example, many people show up at work on a

regular basis in order to receive money or insurance benefits. Most academically-minded

children study in order to help ensure that they will continue to receive good grades. In these

examples, studying is behavior that are motivated by money, benefits, and good grades, which

are positive reinforcers. (MentalHelp.net, 2023)

Significance of the Study

This study served its purpose to the following:

Parents. This was served to determine the environment of their children and being a source

of support and encouragement.

Teachers. This study will help to determine the signs of depression, taking steps to guide

students toward the help they need. Teachers should know the signs that could mean a student is

depressed.

Guidance Counselor. This study can greatly help counselors to easily provide academic

planning for students to make sure they're on track to fulfill required educational guidelines.

Counseling also can help students in overcoming past trauma or mental and emotional challenges

and build healthy relationships, and do other beneficial things.

Students. This will be beneficial the pupils to be educated about psychological depression to

improve recognition and diagnosis.

Researchers. It helped the researcher took apart in knowing and studying the performance of

the people who overcome depression and how they act as a well-being. It also improved the

researcher’s capability to serve the people who have depression.

Future Researchers. Other people who want to study related topics could use the study as a

resource for developing their own study.

Scope and Limitation of the Study

The research study is limited to find out the effects of depression to the psychological well-being

or senior high school students in Riverside College Inc. The participants of this study will only

limited to Grade 11 and 12 including whether their strand is Science, technology, engineering,

and mathematics (STEM), Accountancy, Business, and Management (ABM), and Humanity and

Social Sciences (HUMSS) of Riverside College Inc. that has a medically condition and

diagnosed as depressed.

Definition of Terms

The following terms were conceptually and operationally defined to provide an

understanding of the study:

Riverside College, Incorporated. Conceptually, it is a private non-sectarian

coeducational higher education institution in Bacolod, Negros Occidental, Philippines. The

college is owned and operated by Metro Pacific Hospital Holdings, Inc. It is notable for being the

first school affiliated with a teaching hospital in Bacolod City. It offers education programs from

senior high school up to graduate school. (Wikipedia). Operationally, it is the school that we

choose to conduct our study and find our participants that has diagnosed as depressed to have

interview.

Psychological well-being. Conceptually, it refers to inter- and intra-individual levels of

positive functioning that can include one's relatedness with others and self-referent attitudes that

include one's sense of mastery and personal growth. Subjective well-being reflects dimensions of

affect judgments of life satisfaction ( Springer Link, 2017) Operationally, it determines what

senior high school student experience in life and how they act or handles their performance when

they have depression.

 Depression. Conceptually, depression (major depressive disorder) is a common and serious

medical illness that negatively affects how you feel, the way you think and how you act.

Fortunately, it is also treatable. Depression causes feelings of sadness and/or a loss of interest in

activities you once enjoyed. It can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems and can

decrease your ability to function at work and at home (American Psychiatric Association, 2023)

Operationally, it is the mental illness/disorder that we choose to research or study to determine

how depression can affect the physiological well-being of a person.

Seniors Highschool Students. Conceptually, Senior high school (SHS) refers to Grades 11

and 12, the last two years of the K-12 program that DepEd has been implementing since 2012.

Students begin to study in SHS the subjects that will introduce them to their preferred career path

(Saint Joseph Catholic School, 2017). Operationally, they are the participants that we choose to

conduct a survey on who among them experiences depression, specifically who among them has

been diagnosed as depressed.

Performance. Conceptually, the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an

action, task, or function (Gulf News). Operationally, this is the basis if how the depressed person

acts when they are depressed and how they act in school in both academic and extracurricular

activities.

Family Problems. Conceptually, when conflict between or related to family members

becomes especially intense or frequent, to the point that it interrupts your day-to-day life. Some

degree of conflict within families is normal (and even, to a point, healthy) and the family

dynamic for each person may be different (Zencare). Operationally, This is one of the choices

that we choose to asked if the participants have family problems pertaining to how their parents

and relatives treat them and if it is one of the reason that they become depressed.
 School Problems. Conceptually, issues that a teenager may be experiencing that affects

his/her performance in school. Without intervention, the issues can escalate to dropping out of

school, lack of self esteem, engaging in inappropriate or risky activities and trouble with the law

(Triumph Youth Services). Operationally, this is one of the choices that we choose to asked if the

participants have school problems pertaining to how their classmates and teachers treat them and

also having to achieve or maintain high grades and if it is one of the reason that they become

depressed.

Relationships Problems. Conceptually, some of these common challenges may include

infidelity, loss of intimacy, communication difficulties, coping with stress challenges, financial

pressures, boundary violations, difficulty balancing individual and couple expectations, divorce,

separation and breaking up (Article Library). Operationally, this is one of the choices that we

choose to asked if the participants have relationship problems pertaining to how they treat each

other and how they make their relationship work through ups and downs and if it is one of the

reason that they become depressed.