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IMPACT OF DISCRIMINATION ON STUDENT’S MENTAL HEALTH :

A STUDY AMONG THE GRADE 10 STUDENTS OF SAN PABLO
CITY INTEGRATED HIGH SCHOOL

A Research Presented to the

Faculty of San Pablo City Integrated

High School

Cataag, Khyle Aldrish S.

Credo, Josh Pablo C.
Frayres, Johndrick Francis M.
Manila, Phoebe Jiada A.
Sahagun, Mary Ann A.

April 2024
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CHAPTER II
Review of Related Literature

This chapter focuses on the discussion of additional information about

the study and also focuses on the review of related literature. Presented in this
chapter are the related literature, studies, and journals found by the meticulous
and in-depth search done by the researchers. In order to track the significance
and effects of discrimination on students, as well as its potential effects on their
mental health, the researchers have also examined a variety of publications.
The reviewed literature has been divided into four parts, namely : (A) Academic
Performance, (B) Gender, (C) Lack of Interpersonal Skills, and (D) Lack of
Confidence, Courage, and Self-esteem.

RESPONDENT PROFILE FACTORS

A. Academic Performance

A student’s academic achievement is one of the things that must be

observed and demonstrated in the classroom. Since this is a component of the
school’s grading system, it is necessary for them to be noticed. However,
academic performance isn’t always flawless and excellent for students. While
some children succeed perfectly and have excellent grades, there are other
individuals who struggle academically.

According to Fu et al. (2021), academic performance was negatively

related to internalizing problems and substance used more in victomized youth
that in non-victimized youth. This means that academic performance is also a
factor greatly affecting and contributing on discrimination happening in school.
And one of strongest protective factors in youth’s involvement in bullying and
discrimination is a good academic performance.
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B. Gender

The notion that a student’s gender has a significant impact on their

performance and wellbeing has been cultivated by society. However, in
actuality, gender has no bearing on a student’s wellbeing or performance; it
also has no bearing on everything we achieve in the classroom. This should
not be interpreted as a judgment on the person being done in order to
determine how they ought to be treated. Gender is not a set of criteria; rather,
it is a person’s unique identity and description.

Gender varies from society to society, from culture to culture. It is a part

of social structures that influence how we interact with others and how we view
ourselves. Gender is also a cultural construct that interferes with the idea of
femininity and masculinity and sets the role of men and women. These social
identities constructed by the society are what affects an individual’s behavior,
perceptions, and mental health. (Toraman, C. & Ozen, F. (2019)).

According to Manchana, V., & Gannavarapu, S. V. (2024), gender, as

a social construct, affects various aspects of life course by shaping autonomy,
access, social privileges, and assigned roles, subsequently impacting the
health and overall well-being of individuals. Gender perceptions,
characteristics, duties, and connections are developed and gained through
gender socialization, mainly occurring within the family through intentional and
unintentional means such as verbal labeling, channeling, and exposure to
gender-specific activities, influencing gender attitudes and the adoption of
positive behaviors. This just shows the impact gender discrimination and
gender perceptions on an individual.
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C. Lack of Interpersonal Skills

We refer to a person’s social skills and intelligence as interpersonal

skills. This facilitates a person’s ability to connect, interact, listen intently, and
comprehend. And this is relevant to a lot things, especially things concerning
connections, relationships, and communication.

According to Anggraeni, D. A., & Kurniawan, K. (2022), students

continue to struggle with poor social skills, which negatively affects how they
feel about other people. It is still a significant problem needed to be fixed. It is
also stated in their study that conformity and self-acceptance have positive
and significant relationship with social skills. This implies that, students’ social
abilities increase with their level of conformity and self-acceptance.

Adolescents with strong social skills typically find it easy to establish

friends and have effective communication skills.The ability to engage in social
interaction is needed by students. Students with lower social skills may find it
harder to engage with others and feel more isolated from their friends, who are
more able to interact in the school environment. Since students less capable of
social interaction tend to have few friends, support from their classmates and
friends can greatly affect and help them. (Dasalinda et al. (2021)).
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D. Lack of Confidence, Courage and Self-esteem

Self-confidence is how you know, believe, and trust yourself. Courage

is about being brave to face what you fears. And self-esteem is how you value
and appreciate yourself. These three are useful and helpful in challenging
yourself and facing your problems and fears. Also, these three play an
important role in discrimination.

In the field of mental health, discrimination has been connected to

anxiety and mood problems that have a negative impact on one’s health. Of all
the factors influencing discrimination, one crucial mediator in the relationship
between discrimination and mental health is an individual’s self-esteem. There
is an inverse relationship between self-esteem and disruptive behavioral
behaviors, anxiety symptomatology, and depressive symptoms. High degrees
of depressive symptoms and poor mental health have been linked to low self-
esteem. At the same time, it has been reported that self-esteem is negatively
affected by the perception of discrimination. (Urzua et al. (2019)).
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