Chapter 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SCOPE

Introduction

Stress is a main source of problems being faced by the students during their academic

carrier when they are struggling to get the academic achievements for their future life. When

students take serious of their academe they were more likely to succeed in schooling aspects

considering that they were motivated and goal oriented which lead them to study harder and have

perseverance to finish their study. As students, we have faced different challenges that mold us to

be strong and independent when it comes to succeeding what we’ve prayed for. Nowadays, we can

say and justify that we are facing obstacles in making our academic performance better as we

examine our learning, capabilities and strengths. As we go through, we’ve experienced financial

stress that make us feel burden that affects our emotional and mental health. Sometimes this burden

may lead to cutting connections and making our parents worried about our conditions specifically

when we are not financially stable. This research aims to uncover and identify the effects of

financial stress on the academic performance of the senior high school students of Bubonga-

Marantao National High School.

The study of Reid, Jessop, and Miles (2020) entitled “Explaining the negative impact of

financial concern on undergraduates’ academic outcomes: evidence for stress and belonging as

mediator’s academic outcome apparently influenced by finances is motivation. For instance,

qualitative research indicates that the alleviation of financial difficulties through financial aid

increases students’ academic motivation (Reed & Hurd, 2016). More generally, Sheehy-

Skeffington and Rea (2017) claim that poor financial circumstances diminish the motivation to

achieve one’s goals, which in educational settings could equate to reduced academic motivation.
Further, experimental evidence indicates that greater anticipated financial hardship undermines

satisfaction of the psychological needs for competence and autonomy in university students, which

from a self-determination theory perspective may impair students’ intrinsic motivation (defined as

motivation driven by the satisfaction inherent in achieving intellectual or personal goals, as

opposed to any external incentives or disincentives.

Psychological stress occurs when an individual perceives that environmental demands duty

or exceed his or her adaptive capacity. Stress generate psychological disorders that may arise as

downstream (Jex, 1998). Many different things can cause physical stress, such as fear of something

dangerous or emotional, such as concern about your family or work and a poor outcome in the

study. This is a reaction to things around you that cause stress (Manuel et al., 2003). It is important

to note that stress can have both negative and positive impact on students. Most psychologists

assert that moderate stress motives individuals to achieve and fuels creativity, although stress may

hinder individuals from performance on the difficult task. (Nelson & Simmons, 2003). Stress

impact on the emotional and physical behavior of persons. It is perceived as events or situations

that reason individuals to feel tension, pressure, or negative emotions (Bernstein et al., 2008).

Statement of the Problem

This research aims to reveal the effects of financial stress on the academic performance of

the senior high school students of Bubonga-Marantao National High School.

Specifically, it sought to find answers to the following questions:

1 What is the respondents’ demographic profile in terms of:

1.1 Year level

1.2 Age

1.3 Sex
 1.4 Parents’ Occupation

1.5 Parents’ School Attainment

2 What are the effects of financial stress on the academic performance of senior high school

students of BMNHS?

Theoretical Framework

This research is guided by theories and postulated models which try to explain and support

the major concept of the study. These theories were presented to this study because they dealt with

the factors in learning, understanding the students' attitudes, and the like.

Expectancy Theory

This theory is from the idea of Victor Vroom. According to this theory, action is guided by

the expectation of positive outcomes or consequences. It also suggested that an individual chooses

a particular behavior based on the expected outcome of the behavior/action. People, for example,

would be able to put in more effort if they believe it will be rewarded. The theory suggests that

employees’ perceived view of workplace outcomes determines the level of motivation they have

when working (Redmond & Hite, 2013). Vroom (1964) defines motivation as the force impelling

a person to perform a particular action, as determined by the interaction of (a) the person’s

expectancy the act will be followed by a particular outcome and (b) the valence of that outcome.

Expectancy is described as the belief that higher or increased effort will yield better

performance. This concept can be explained by the thinking of “If I work harder, I will make

something better” (Redmond & Hite, 2013). Conditions that enhance expectancy include having

the correct resources available, having the required skill set for the job, and having the necessary
support to do the job correctly. Hence, Expectancy as a theoretical framework aligns with the aim

of this study about the expectation outcomes of the respondent to their decision about their chosen

college degree program.

Sociological Models

Sociological theory was described by Paulsen 1996 and McDonough 1997 as cited by

Baliyan (2016), as a sociology theory which focuses on the characters that influenced socially,

economically, and culturally. It considers as the role of certain factors in the attainment of positions

or occupations of prestige or status which influence the college choice.

Additionally, Baliyan (2016) as cited by Batingolo and Laguindab (2022), sociological

models are also called status-attainment models. The sociological models of college choice

emphasize “how socialization processes, family conditions, interactions with peers, and school

environments help shape students’ college choices. Factors presumed to influence student choice

include: family socioeconomic background, student academic ability, and parental encouragement,

influence of significant others, high school academic performance, motivation, and high school

academic standards. This theory supports this study by providing explanation on how the social

environment or social context influence students attitude in achieving better performance in

academe.
Significance of the Study

The researcher believe that the results of the study may benefit the following:

Students. This study may benefit the future researchers in understanding the significance of

academic performance and coping the stress itself.

Teachers. This study may help the teachers in understanding the behavior of their students

especially when students deal with stress. Therefore, they may get an idea on how to motivate and

encourage their students to pursue and achieve better academic performance.

Parents. This study may help the parents to be aware on the things they need to do in supporting

their children so that will not have engaged in becoming stress when reaching their goals in life.

School Administrators. This study may help the School Administrators to introduce new effective

program that may help students to reduce stress and how to handle the stress.

Future Researchers. This study may help future researchers who wish to conduct a study related

to this. This study may give future researchers an insight that may be of great help.

Conceptual Framework

The goal of this research is to investigate the effects of financial stress among senior high

school students of BMNHS. The conceptual framework of this study is reflected in Figure 1. As

presented, variable one is focused on the demographic profile of the respondents including of (1)

year level, (2) age, (3) sex (4) parents’ occupation (5) parents’ school attainment. The second part

is focused on the effects of financial stress among the senior high school students of BMNHS.
 Respondents’ Profile
Examining the Effects of Financial Stress
Year level
among Senior High School Students of
Age
BMNHS
Sex
Parents’ Occupation
Parents’ School Attainment
Academic Performance

Figure 1. A Schematic Diagram of the Conceptual Framework of the Study

Scope and Limitations

This research focus is to investigate the demographic profile of the respondents and

examine the possible effects of financial stress among the senior school students of Bubonga-

Marantao NHS. The opinion of the respondents on how to handle stress towards achieving better

academic performance will be considered. The research only includes the Senior High School

students of BMNHS who are currently enrolled in 2nd semester of Academic Year, 2023-2024 at

the Bubonga-Marantao National High School, Bubo Piagapo LDS.

 Chapter 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter include the ideas, research articles, generalization or conclusion,

methodologies, and others. Those that were included in this chapter helps in familiarizing

information that are relevant and similar to the present research.

Related Literature

Academic Stress

Gunnar (1998), defined the explanation of academic stress is the anxiety and stress that

comes from schooling and education. There is regularly a lot of compressions that comes along

with following a degree and one's education. There is studying homework, tests, labs, reading, and

quizzes. There is the stress of doing all of the work, balancing the time and finding time for extra-

curricular activities. Academic stress is particularly hard on school students who are often living

away from home for the first time. Its study show that teachers expect work to be completed on

time. Students may miscalculate the amount of time it takes to complete reading and writing tasks,

to print out replicas of their work. Stress and its displays, such as stress, depression, and tension,

have always been seen as a common problem among people in different businesses and

occupations. In the last few times, the alarm has previously been motivated by the proliferation of

books, research reports, popular articles and the growing number of organized workshops, aiming

to teach people how to handle with this individuality.

While Baumeister and Exline (2000) description of stress provides a complex concept of

stress, it says little about how stress affects human academic and other performance. There is

important variation between researchers about the direct and indirect properties of several suppose
different factors which have to create stress in any situation. Direct stress special effects are those

experienced by the mission capacity alone unrelatedly of any psychological stress that may also

be generated. According to Rees and Redfern (2000) indirect stress effects are developed from

psychological stressors related to task load requirements. There is an acceptable line that is mutual

with these two, and they can sometimes not be distinguished. This fact made their departure and

measurement extremely difficult.

High Stress

Ashcraft and Kirk (2001) shows that students with high stress tend to be slower and more

considerate in their action of various aspects of specialized purposes. For example, these persons

give the impression to have particular difficulty with the carryover role. With the connection

between this function and work memory, scientists have imagined that the extra stress present in

highly nervous subjects probably withdraws resources that can then be used in work memory for

activation and rehearsal as needed for the carrying operation. Although it has been challenged that

high stress individuals may simply be less qualified to be subject to inability and not stress different

studies have given an indication that professional competence is not satisfactory to explain the

phenomena. Instead, it has directed our sympathetic towards resource reduction models.

Specifically, it has been said that concern and disturbing thoughts compete for the limited pool of

resources.

This study investigated the effects of academic stress on the performance of different

cognitive tasks, predicted that matte stress would interfere with work memory, leading to a

breakdown in mathematical and related performance. Specifically, these authors measure the

degree to which subjects were stressed using a self-reporting index shortly followed by a

performance assessment of two measurements of the work environment reading team and
calculation group. Their results suggest that people who score high on measurements or tensions

tend to perform worse on work memory measurements. While this was the case in both ways, it

was not necessarily limited to just computational tasks, high stress subjects were more likely to

demonstrate failure in computational results than listening outcomes (Slaven and Windle, 1999).

Related Studies

Drop Out

The study of Usman and Banu (2019) entitled “A Study on Impact of Financial Stress on

Students’ Academics” it is mentioned that according to Guan (2015) opines that college students

with financial difficulties refer to those whose families can hardly afford their high tuition fees in

universities, and should be supported by modern funding system. Dobria (2016) found that college

students (Kevinofosnacht, 2013) frequently cite financial difficulties among the top reasons for

dropping out. From a financial standpoint, student attrition can be contextualized in terms of

personal circumstances and beliefs. Keenamer (2010) observed that the most obvious cause of

financial stressor is the cost of due to attending college and most students rely upon substantial

loans to cover their tuitions fees. He further established that student financial aid acts as a retention

tool, it may in fact serve low-income college students whose access is more vitally important than

for choice Valadez (2012) in their study implied that tuition fees increase significantly affects low-

income students compared to those not of low-income background. This poses another issue for

low-income borrowers as they now find high debt amounts discouraging, or as a barrier, to pursue

a college degree.
 Poor grades

Many students suffer as a result of financial stress. This is most likely a result of the Ohio

State poll indicating that 32% of students who experience financial stress neglect their school

works. The National Survey of Students Engagement also revealed that one-third of students do

not purchase the required study materials because of the price. Financial well-being among

students correlated with academic achievement and graduation rates, according to several recent

studies. Financially secure kids do better academically and are more likely to graduate from school

than financially stressed students (Igrad, 2022).

Daily Expenses

According to Studocu World University Ranking (2023), senior high school students face

financial stress that can negatively affect their academic performance. Many students struggle with

budgeting their allowance with around 20.66% earning 41-50 pesos per day and only 2.07%

receiving 91 pesos or more. Moneva and Tunaco (2020) found that the allowance typically covers

P50 to P100 for lunch and P30 to P50 for snacks. Moreover, students living in municipalities

usually receive about P100 to P150 per day. Due to the lack of funds to cover their daily expenses,

students often experience financial stress that make them stressed (University of Northern

Philippines, Ilocos Sur, 2023). Zamora (2022) mentioned that can harm the students’ academic

performance.

Lower Self-Esteem

A study conducted researchers at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa

(2016) stated that many of the students coming from poor families depended on parents or

guardians with already heavy financial stress, that is why students encounter problems such as
inability to cope with the high standards of studying as well as difficulty in paying fees and

accessing basic needs. Data gathered from the interviews and surveys insinuates that financial

problems have adverse effects on students’ academic performance. Students do not afford basic

needs and study material due to financial stress. Moreover, students’ financial stress contributed

to low self-esteem, lack of motivation to study, and ultimately affect their academic performance.

It is significant to note that most of the responses did not show a positive correlation between

financial stress and academic performance. Some participants even indicated that their advantaged

backgrounds and lack of finances motivated them to work hard and they are aiming for a better

future.
 Chapter 3

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents research design, research site or locale, and respondents of the study,

research instruments, data gathering and statistical tools employed in the data analysis.

Research Design

This study will use quantitative design approach. The quantitative refers to the use of

numbers and closed-ended questions in face-to-face survey questionnaire.

Locale of the study

This study was conducted at Bubonga-Marantao National High School at Barangay Bubo,

Piagapo Lanao del Sur. The researchers chose the Bubonga-Marantao National High School in the

Municipality of Piagapo because Piagapo is a rural area and in terms of modernization and life

style, people in urban area may differ to those in rural area. Piagapo is one of the municipalities in

Lanao Del Sur. It is geographically divided into three, namely: Sundingan, Piagapo composed of

eight (8) barangays; Patapanoroganan which originally has four (4) barangays but turned twelve

(12), and Bubonga-Marantao consisting six (6) barangays surrounding the Bubonga Marantao

National High School. The school is also surrounded by hills like contour on the South leading to

Mentring and on the North hills side that bounded MSU and Municipality of Piagapo overlooking

the beautiful Lake Lanao.

The surrounding barangays of the school applauded its operation. For more than a century,

parents have had a hard time sending their children to secondary schools. Elementary education is

not a problem because this place is strategically located with elementary school like the Bagu-
ingud Elementary, the Bobo Elementary School and the Ilian Elementary School which are also

the primary sources of students proceeding secondary and enrolling in Bubonga-Marantao

National High School. The site donated to the Bubonga-Marantao National High School

(BMNHS) is really ideal for it has accessibility to either direction.

Figure 1. Location Map of the Municipality of Piagapo Lanao del Sur

Respondents of the study

The respondents of this study will be randomly selected students from the senior high

school students of Bubonga-Marantao National High School who are officially enrolled in the

academic year 2023-2024.

Ethical Consideration

First, the researchers sought permission from the respondents through a consent letter.

Second, the researchers will explain to the respondents that their participation would be done

voluntarily and they are free to withdraw from participation without any negative impact to them

on future services and others. Third, the researcher will assure that there will be no harmful

consequences before and after the respondents’ involvement. Fourth, the researcher rest assured

that all data that will be gathered from the respondents will be remain confidential and anonymous.

Lastly, the researcher also rest assured that the results and any information will be using only for

academic purposes.

Instruments and Its Validity

The instrument that will be used in this study is a self-constructed questionnaire. The first

part of the questionnaire will be a checklist focus on the demographic profile of the respondents

of the study. The second part is a checklist affecting financial stress among senior high school

students. The questionnaire items followed a four-point Likert scale of Strongly Agree, Agree,

Moderately Agree, Strongly Disagree, Disagree, and Moderately Disagree.

Data Gathering Procedure

Before administering the survey questionnaire, the researchers asked permission from their

adviser and panel members to start conducting the study. The researcher will send a permission
letter to respective school principal as a request to conduct a study on examining the effect of

financial stress among senior high school students of Bubonga-Marantao National High School.

As soon as the permission will be granted, the survey questionnaire will send to the target

respondents. The survey questionnaires will undergo through face- to-face. After collecting the

data, the researcher will be the one who will tally, compute, and interpret the data.

Statistical Tools

The researcher will be using frequency and percentage distribution, weighted mode as

statistical tools in analyzing the data. The following statistical tools are utilized to arrive at the

solutions of the different problems presented:

1 Frequency and Percentage Distribution. This will be used in describing the profile

of the respondents. Frequencies will be converted to percentages. The frequency counts

to determine the number of respondents according to their age, gender, year level,

parents’ occupation and school attainment.

2 Mode- is the value that appears most often in a set of data values that is most likely

to be sampled (Gujarati, 2006 as cited by Batingolo and Laguindab 2022). Mode is

used in this study to determine the most frequently chosen responses of the respondents

in the survey items.