FACTORS AFFECTING MENTAL HEALTH OF STEM STUDENTS:

BASIS FOR PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT

Chapter 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING

This chapter includes the introduction. Theoretical Framework.

Statement of the problem. Scope and Delimitations. Significance of the

study, and the Definition of terms.

Introduction

The load of school work from certain subjects is a constant

roadblock for the brain. Although these activities provide various ways of

learning and problem solving, doing a lot of school work is extremely

detrimental to STEM students. This study likes to adress this topic

because we want to motivate our co-stem student to protect their mental

health to prevent developing psychological distress, since we know that

having a lot of school work can lead to stress and pressure on the students.

Working on school activities has a deleterious impact on STEM student’s

mental health if it overwhelms them.

STEM students don’t have a lot of time for themselves since they

are still adjusting to this new normal learning – face to face classes, self

learning and online classes. Students deal with school work everyday.

However, somehow in this academic environment student’s learning will

develop and still be consistent with their studies.

FACTORS AFFECTING MENTAL HEALTH OF STEM STUDENTS:
BASIS FOR PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT
According to Pedrelli, P, Maren, N, et al. (2015), for many students,

completing schoolwork can be a stressful time. Some students must

manage the demanding obligations of their own home difficulties in

addition to the pressures of their studies, while others may have to handle

a lot of tasks and responsibilities. This can affect their mental health and

it will impact their school work also. But, us STEM students have a good

persistence and still can't bear a lot of stress and pressure. In short,

students will reach their limit. Many students who suffer from mental

illness are hesitant to discuss it. I want to bring attention to the stigma

surrounding mental health that many students still experience.

Theoretical Framework

To illustrate the range of complaints the term ‘mental health’ covers,

it will first be defined. The theories surrounding help-seeking behavior in

relation to mental health issues will then be discussed. Finally, the

conceptual framework will be used to show the development challenges,

inspiring factors, and related ideas that affects stem students’ mental

health.

Cognitive Psychological Theory

The theoretical underpinning of this study supports the three

factors affecting mental health of grade 11 STEM (Science, Technology,

Engineering, Mathematics) students which are depression, sleeping

disorders and weight gain or loss. This story mainly refers to stem

students mental processes, such as thoughts and interpretations of life

FACTORS AFFECTING MENTAL HEALTH OF STEM STUDENTS:
BASIS FOR PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT
events that got more worsen by the academic pressure revolving around

them. It works in reverse where changing how the stem students behave

leads to changes of feelings and ultimately, their thoughts. This is where

depression, sleeping disorders and weight gain or loss comes in, stem

students changes emotions and behaviors. As stated by John Watson, he

proposed a psychological approach that became known as behaviorism

(Goldstein, 2011). Only certain study of publicly observable behavior is

often linked with behaviorism. Contrary to behaviorism, cognitive

psychology is thought to be unconstrained by logical positivism’s reliance

on observation evidence. Such frameworks can be used as astarting point

to identify significant factors affecting stem students’ mental health, and

can also be used to evaluate their impact on treatment outcomes and

demonstrate the intricacy of the developmental pathways that are

associated to them.

Statement of the Problem

This study seeks the experiences of STEM Students on how they

perform and felt about talking their mental health.

This research specifically aims to respond to the following queries:

1. What symptoms of mental illness are most likely to be experienced by

students?

1.1 Depression

1.2 Sleeping disorders

1.3 Weight gain or loss

FACTORS AFFECTING MENTAL HEALTH OF STEM STUDENTS:
BASIS FOR PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT
2. Do you remember when was the most recent you felt optimistic about

life?

3. How frequently do you experience academic stress?

Scope and Delimitations

The scope of this study is to assess the factors associated in effects

of mental health among the Grade 11 STEM (Science, Technology,

Engineering, and Mathematics) students of Eusebio High School. The

main purpose of this study is to determine the effect of mental health that

stem students experience. The sample size is delimited only for 30

students in EHS as a respondents, by taking the respond of our problem

question we will using a survey as data gathering.

Significance of the Study

The result of the study may beneficial to the:

Grade 11 Stem students. Grade 11 stem students will have wide

knowledge to manage time for their own obligations. Also grade 11 stem

students will be motivate and avoid breakdowns. Furthermore, students

that are in the stem strand will be the main respondents of the study. This

can help them to avoid affecting their mental health for having stem

strand. They will also have a chance to have time for themselves because

of this study. This will teach stem students to protect their mental health,

also it can help on how you can handle stress, relate ro others and make

healthy choices because, mental health is important at every stage of our

FACTORS AFFECTING MENTAL HEALTH OF STEM STUDENTS:
BASIS FOR PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT
life. This study can benefits stem students for being healthy emotionally

can promote productivity and effectiveness in activities like homework etc.

In addition, when it comes to our mental health self-care can help us

manage stress, lower our risk for illness and it can increase our energy.

Definition of Terms

For a better understanding of the study, the following terms are

defined operationally.

Academic Environment. It is the learning space of students,

where it affects their personal development and social well-being.

Academic Pressure. It is the experience of students being

overwhelmed by their academic workload.

Academic Stress. The mental or emotional response of students

due to the demand of school-related requirements.

Academic Workload. It is the amount of school-related work,

which students are required to comply for their academic performance.

Depression. A common but serious mental disorder in which a

person is in a state of constant sadness and loss of interest.

Mental Health. It is the emotional state and mental well -

being of an individual which affects their ability to think and act.

Program Development. It is the process of developing a well-

designed plan in order to provide a better understanding or solution to

the problem.
FACTORS AFFECTING MENTAL HEALTH OF STEM STUDENTS:
BASIS FOR PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT
Self-Care. Practices that contributes in healing, protecting and

taking care of it’s own mental health.

Sleeping Disorder. Conditions that affect an individual’s ability to

sleep on a regular basis.

Weight Gain. One of the symptoms of mental illness that

increases the weight of the body.

Weight Loss. One of the symptoms of mental illness that

decreases the weight of the body.

FACTORS AFFECTING MENTAL HEALTH OF STEM STUDENTS:
BASIS FOR PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT

A Research Proposal Presented to

Michael John M. Lopez

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Subject Practical

Research 1

Researchers

Charlene C. Aguilar

Alena S. De Leon

John Michael C. De Leon

Jin Margaret E. Ladines

Riley Rust A. Onrubia

Trishalyn P. Orendain