CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

School education is a very important part in an individual’s life and is also a turning point

in their academic life. At this stage, the academic performance of a student plays a crucial role in

deciding the next stage of their education, which in turn shapes their career. In today’s highly

competitive world, students face various academic problems including examination stress,

disinterest in attending classes and the inability to understand a subject. Academic stress involves

mental distress regarding anticipated academic challenges or even the fear of the possibility of

academic failure. Academic stressors show themselves in many aspects in the students’

environment: at school, home, in their peer relations and even in their neighborhood. Excessive

levels of academic stress can actually lead to suicidal ideation. It can result in an increased

prevalence of psychological and physical problems like depression, anxiety, nervousness and

stress related disorders, which in turn can affect their academic results. Anxiety as a disorder is

seen about 8% of adolescents and children worldwide. Both anxiety and stress have a substantial

negative effect on their social, emotional and academic success while depression is becoming the

most common mental health problem most students suffer these days. It is also a reflection of an

individual’s academic frustration, academic conflict, academic anxiety and academic pressure.

According to most students, their greatest academic stressors include tests, grades, homework,

and expectations of parents towards the student. School related stresses include inadequate

instructional methods, teacher-student relationships, heavy academic workload, poor physical

classroom environments, inability to balance one’s leisure time with school, and disorganization
surrounding academic assignments and schedules. Additional sources consist of a struggle to

meet academic standards, worries about time management and concerns over grades and scores.

Students are thus, seen to be affected by the negative causes of academic stress.

Dr. Karl Albrecht published his model of the four (4) common types of stress in his 1979

book, "Stress and the Manager” and these are Time stress, Anticipatory stress, Situational stress,

and Encounter stress. Time stress is when someone worries about time, or the lack thereof. They

worry about the number of things that they have to do, and they fear that they will fail to achieve

something important. Anticipatory stress describes stress that someone experience concerning

the future. Sometimes this stress can be focused on a specific event, such as an upcoming

presentation that you're going to give. However, anticipatory stress can also be vague and

undefined, such as an overall sense of dread about the future, or a worry that "something will go

wrong." Situational stress is when someone is in a scary situation that he or she have no control

over. Nevertheless, it's a situation that involves conflict, or a loss of status or acceptance in the

eyes of your group. Lastly, Encounter stress, revolves around people. He or she experience

encounter stress when they worry about interacting with a certain person or group of people –

they may not like them, or they might think that they are unpredictable. To sum it up, it can all

be matched with academic stress since most of them are faced by every student.

Academic stress among students has become a topic of interest for few researchers today.

Academic commitments, financial pressures, and the lack of time management skills have

resulted in many senior high school students experiencing intense stress at predictable times

during each semester. SHS students’ health and academic performance can be negatively

affected due to the higher degree of stress (Campbell & Svenson, 1992). As with that matter, the

researcher come up with the idea of contriving some questions that serves as a guide in
conducting this research study. Some of those questions are "What are the effects of stress to

students?" and " What are different stress coping mechanisms of Senior High School students?"

Because of that, the researcher will pursue or provide an answer for her research study.

Statement of the Problem

The researcher of this research study entitled "Exploring the Relationship Between

Academic Stress and Suicidal Ideation of Senior High School Students of PCU Dasmariñas"

aims to answer these following questions along the research period, A.Y. 2018-2019:

1. What is the demographic profile of the respondents in terms of the following?

a. Gender

b. Track

c. Strand

d. Age

2. How prone are the respondents to academic stress?

3. What are the effects of stress to students’ academic performance?

4. What are different stress coping mechanisms of Senior High School students?

5. In your view, should stress awareness be taught at schools?

The researcher has conducted this research study to ascertain the relationship between

Academic Stress and Suicidal Ideation and its effects to the Senior High School Students of PCU

Dasmarinas. This study focuses on the effects of stress to the SHS students and its impact to their

academic performances. As pertained, the study will just focus on Senior High School Students

of Philippine Christian University-Dasmarinas because they are pertinent to the main target of

the research study.

Significance of the Study

This research study is completed and conducted to directly or indirectly generate benefits

for these following groups which frame the reason why researchers strive to make their research

paper possible.

 Senior High School Students – Through this research, they would be able to know the

negative effects of academic stress and later on would help them discover some effective

ways on how to deal with it. They can also benefit to this research as they can also give

possible suggestions on how to overcome academic stress.

 Teachers – This research would also be beneficial to the teachers as they will be able to

understand the students who were engaged to stress and can easily cope up to the

students’ attitude.
 Parents – This research would be a help to the parents because they will be able to know

the effects of academic stress to their children that may lead to suicidal ideation if

neglected. The parents, after knowing the risk of depression, may be able to guide their

children.

 PCU-Dasmarinas Campus – Since the research study will be conducted in this campus,

it will benefit each student and the school itself.

 Future Researchers – This research would be beneficial to the future researchers

because they can get some information that might be needed in their research and some

of their questions may possibly be answered by this research.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Review of Related Literature and Studies

In this chapter, the literatures and studies were carefully selected and deliberated upon on

the basis of relatively and reliability of the information presented. This literatures and studies

help the researcher to have an evidence and proof to her study. Also, this chapter discusses the

relevance of the study.

Review of Related Literature

Blona (2005) claims that students experience stress since some are trying to cope with the

demands of adapting to a new living environment, new peers, academic pressure, and sexual

concerns. Being in college can also put financial stress on the students and their families. These

situations can leave them with trembling hands, tense muscles, migraine, headache, and multiple

other symptoms of stress performance or reduce the student to ineffectiveness.

Based on the study of Mazo (2015) entitled, “Causes, Effects of Stress, and the Coping

Mechanism of the Bachelor of Science in Information Technology Students in A Philippine

University” this study sought to determine the causes of stress, the effects of stress, and the stress

coping mechanisms of Bachelor of Science in Information Technology students in the Leyte

Normal University, Tacloban City. It tested some assumptions using the descriptive survey
method with 51 respondents. Thesis writing/research and school requirements/projects were the

most common causes of stress. Sleepless nights and irritable/moody feeling were the common

effects of stress. There was disparity on the causes and effects of stress between the male and

female respondents. The use of computer and praying to God were the common stress coping

mechanisms. There was an observed disparity between the male and female responses.

Duque (2007) cited common effects of stress. These are insomnia, headaches, backaches,

constipation, diarrhea, high blood pressure, heart disease, depression and alcohol, tobacco or

drug use. He suggested doing the following: 1) After seeing the doctor, share your treatment plan

with people close to you. Talk with friends and relatives and explain what you are going through;

2) If your doctor prescribed medication takes it exactly the way it is prescribed. Do not stop

taking your medication until you doctor tells you to stop doing so; 3) Keep all follow-up

appointments with your doctor; 4) Remember that it may take some time to start feeling better;

5) If you experience side effects from any medication, tell your doctor; and 6) Seek professional

counseling. If your methods of coping stress are not contributing to your greater emotional and

physical health, it is time to find healthier ones. There are many healthy ways to manage and

cope with stress, but they all require change. You can either change the situation or change your

reaction. When deciding which option to choose, it is helpful to think of the four A’s: avoid,

alter, adapt, or accept. Since everyone has unique response to stress, there is no “one size fits all”

solution to managing it. No single method works for everyone or in every situation, so

experiment with different techniques and strategies. Focus on what makes you feel calm and in

control.

Based on the study entitled “Stressors and Stress Responses of Filipino College students”

Dy et. al. (2015), the study determined the stressors and stress responses of Filipino college
students in relation to sex, course and academic classification. There were 258 respondents for

the study. Of the respondents, 68% were females and 32% were males. According to their

degree, 42% belonged to the soft sciences and 58% to the hard sciences. In terms of academic

classification, 10% were freshmen, 36% sophomores, 33% juniors and 21% seniors. The top five

overall stressors of the respondents were academic difficulty of subject matter, workload due to

subjects, time management because of subjects, responsibilities due to being on one's own, and

time management because of both subjects and organizations. The most frequently occurring

stress responses were affective stress responses followed by cognitive responses. For both male

and female respondents, the top stressors were academics, workload due to subjects and time

management concerns. Overall, the males reacted to stress through affective responses and

females through cognitive responses. Students enrolled in the hard and soft sciences both

considered academics, workload due to subjects and time management concerns as their top

stressors. Those in the soft sciences reacted with cognitive stress responses while those in the

hard sciences reacted with affective stress responses. Generally, all students, regardless of their

academic classification pointed out that academics, workload due to subjects, and time

management were their main stressors. They all reacted to stress with affective stress responses.

These patterns can be monitored to maintain the psychological and physical well-being of

adolescent students.

Review of Related Studies

Salvacion (2004) studied the stress profile of students in the College of Dentistry of the

University of the Philippines, Manila. The study involved 149 dentistry student-respondents.

Academic stressors like examinations and grades, fully loaded days, difficulty in completing
clinical requirements, and fear of getting delayed topped the identified stressors. Academic

factors were stressful in the first 3-year levels. Academic stress peaked during the sophomore

year. No significant differences in rankings were observed between genders. There was

undeniable similarity in the general stress profile of the different year levels. Common methods

of coping with stress were employed by students which include crying, praying, talking,

watching movies, and listening to music. Stress makes or breaks a person. It is like a two-edged

sword which can either motivate or stimulate a student to peak.

Grandea (2006) used a descriptive research approach in studying the stress and coping

mechanism of college freshmen of South Ville International School and Colleges. It involved

201 student-respondents. The student respondents experienced high perceived stress. The

identified main stressors were academics. The student-respondents used positive stress coping

mechanism. The perceived stress and coping mechanisms of the student-respondents were

independent of their profile.

Synthesis

Academic stress is a mental stress because of some anticipated frustration associated

with parental pressure on high performances, tough class load, worry over grade competitions,

sports, and etc. However, if academic stress persists, it may lead to suicidal ideation. Academic

stress has good and bad effects to every student. A certain level of stress can be helpful and at

times, stress acts as a motivator to accomplish goals. Stress can lead to motivation, causing us to

complete a difficult task or event that we must deal with. Nevertheless, excessive levels of

academic stress can result in an increased prevalence of psychological and physical problems
like depression, anxiety, nervousness and stress related disorders, which in turn can affect their

academic results.

Academic stress is a mental and emotional pressure, tension or stress that occurs due to

the demands of college life. It is the product of a combination of academic related demands that

exceed the adaptive resources available to an individual. Fortunately, every student can avoid

stress only if the individual knows how to handle such situations. On the other hand, academic

stress can be avoided by seeking help from their parents and friends, time management, making

good study habits, take time for self-care, learning how to study more effectively, using coping

strategies like physical excursive, meditation, humor therapy and positive thinking.

Theoretical Framework

Canon (1914) and Selye (1965) were the earliest theorists to offer physiological bases for

stress. Their model suggests that our Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) and hypothalamus

coordinate a physiological stress response that involves the pituitary and adrenal glands and the

secretion of catecholamines and corticosteroids. Later on, the stress researchers expanded and

modified the early ideas. For example, in contrast to Selye’s theory of general adaptation, Mason

(1971) argued that stress responses are based on the type of stressor that we are dealing with. In

all of these three theories, psychological aspects did not play major roles. Cannon suggested that

organisms had threshold levels and that if stressors were below these limits, the fight-or-flight

response did not activate. He also discussed emotional stressors, suggesting that mental

processes played some role. Likewise, both cannon and Selye believed that events had to be

recognized as threatening to activate the response.

that the role of stress differed significantly across individuals, depending on how they interpreted

the event and outcome of a specific sequence of thinking patterns called appraisals. He suggested

two major types of appraisals when one face any potentially stressful event. During primary

appraisal, one ascertains whether the event is positive, negative, or neutral, and if negative, if it is

harmful, threatening, or challenging. A harm (or harm-loss) appraisal is made when one expects

to lose or actually lose something of great personal significance. For example, when one breaks

up a close relationship one, lose confidence. After one make primary appraisal, one assesses

whether or not one has the necessary resources to cope with the event. During secondary

appraisal one essentially determines whether one can deal with the event and how one can cope.

Definition of Variables

These following terms have been chosen and defined to the context of the research study

since these chosen words have a big role in this research study.

 Academic Stress – These words become the main target of the study which will be

studied in the entire research process.

 Suicidal Ideation - Presents significant risks for those struggling with mental health

issues. It is wanting to take your own life or thinking about suicide.

 Selected SHS Students – The Senior High School Students of Philippine Christian

University-Dasmariñas will be the respondents for the research study.

 PCU-Dasmarinas Campus – This academic Christian institution will be the locale of

this research study.

variable and that is the goal of the researcher throughout the research study.

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brain/280934/

Meteor Education (2018, March 13). How Teachers can help their Students

https://www.meteoreducation.com/stress-part-2

Mindtools (2018). Albrecht's Four Types of Stress

https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/albrecht-stress.htm

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