THE EFFECTS OF FAMILY PROBLEMS ON THE ATTITUDINAL AND

BEHAVIORAL ACTS OF SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN SOME

SELECTED PRIVATE SCHOOLS IN TACLOBAN CITY

A Research Paper Presented to the Faculty of the Senior High School Department

ACLC

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Subject

Practical Research II

Submitted by:

KENT BRYLL C. CINCO

January 2022

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page ……………………………………………………………….…………………… i

Approval Sheet ……………………………………………………………………………… ii

Acknowledgement …………..………………………………………………………………

iii Table of Content ……………………………………………………………………………

iv CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………………..

Background of the Study …………………………………………………………….

Statement of the Problem …………………………………………………………….

Theoretical Framework ……………………………………………………………….

Significance of the Study …………………………………………………………….

Scope and Delimitations ……………………………………………………………..

Definition of Terms …………………………………………………………………..

CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND

STUDIES………………10 Review of Related Literature

………………………………………………………… Review of Related Studies

……………………………………………………………

CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY

……………………………………………………..…16 Research Design

……………………………………………………………………… Research Locale

………………………………………………………………………. Participants of

the Study ……………………………………………………………… Research

Procedure ……………………………………………………………………
 2
Research Instrument …………………………………………………………………..

Statistical Treatment …………………………………………………………………..

 3
CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study

Nowadays, there are lots of existing problems that the students are facing; one factor is

family problems. This kind of factor can affect the learner’s Attitudinal and Behavioral Acts.

The researcher finds out “The Effects of Family Problems on the Attitudinal and Behavioral

Acts of Senior High School Students in Some Selected Private Schools in Tacloban City”

As to this existing problem, family factors are one of the serious issues in this world.

In that case, it has been serious in Senior High School Students in Some Selected Private

Schools in Tacloban City since some of the students are not able to function properly due to

its effects on the attitude and behavior that they apply on a daily basis (Sameer C, 1997).

The ‘behavior problems’ are having a major impact on a child's bodily and social

development. The family provides emotional support to an individual as well as plays a major

role in the formation of one's personality (Bhargava S, 1998). Based on the researcher’s

gathered pieces of information, it has revealed that exposure to common family problems

during childhood and early adolescence affects brain development (Bhatia MS, 1990), which

could lead to mental health issues in later life. Some students chose to stop their studies and

apply for a job to sustain their living. Divorce, single parents, poverty, violence, and many

other issues are all challenges a student brings to school every day. While some teachers and

administrators try to work with children in less-than-ideal family environments, they can only

do so much – especially when parents are often not willing to partner with the schools to

provide for the children. This case reveals that the strongest predictor is usually criminal or

antisocial parents while other quite strong and replicable predictors are large family size, poor

parental supervision, parental conflict, and disrupted families. The result suggests that child

4
abuse and young mothers are relatively weak predictors (Bhola P, 2000). This chapter

suggests that family-based programs targeting family risk factors might prevent delinquency.
The quality and nature of the parental nurturance that the child receives will profoundly

influence his future development (McCartney K, 2006). The knowledge of these family

factors associated with behavior problems may be helpful to identify at-risk children. The

researchers also found out that those who had experienced family problems were more likely

to have had a diagnosed psychiatric illness, have a parent with a mental health disorder, and

have negative perceptions of how their family functioned. The stigma has largely been that a

divorced couple would create more mental health issues for children.

However, people often forget that a conflicted home is keeping a child constantly

under duress. Family problems as common as they seem, may not seem like a lot. But the

negative effect of family problems does hold on to a child’s impressionable mind for longer

periods (Cartwhight-Hatton S, 2005) well into adulthood. Almost all people have knowledge

that children from conflicted homes have anxiety issues in social interactions, mental illness,

and substance abuse as adults. It may not be the same for all children and most do turn their

life around. Furthermore, that does not mean they’ve not been through phases where they

haven’t suffered from the negative effects of family problems.

Parents who cannot find a resolution among themselves are often suffering from the

same issues like anxiety, depression, or just pent-up anger. It is often directed at the child for

the parent to vent frustrations (Prakash J, 2006). Sometimes, it might just be shedding tears in

front of your child that will leave a permanent impact. The effect of parental conflict and other

family problems will be different for children depending on age, sex, and temperament

(Achenbach TM, 1978). Every child has his own coping mechanism for situations and reacts

differently to stress, it also makes a difference as to how connected the child is to the members

of the family.

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In this study, the researcher will investigate furthermore stories about the family
factors affecting the learner’s convenience and behaviors.

Statement of the Problem

This research study aims to investigate the Effects of Family Problems on the

Attitudinal and Behavioral act. Respectively, the researchers are then to answer the following

queries:

1. How do family problems affect students’ attitudinal and behavioral acts? 2. What

are the best solutions or actions that must be mandated by teachers or by the school

administration?

3. What is the best way to overcome family problems?

Theoretical Framework

Divorcing parents can cause their children to feel guilty, neglected, or unloved. As a result,

they lose focus at school. High school dropout rates are also high with kids from broken

homes than kids with families still together. Studies also show that kids with divorced parents

have lower test scores than kids with parents who are still married.

Financial problems cause stress to some students because they would need to work to meet

their living expenses. This would decrease their capacity to study. Since it would decrease

their time for studying, which in turn may affect their academic result. Studies have also

shown that students who experience higher levels of financial stress are more likely to

discontinue their schooling than more financially secured peers.

Parents or relatives having drug problems or experience of a SUD (Substance Use Disorders,

characterized by the recurrent use of alcohol or drugs or both that results in problems such as

being unable to control the use of the substance) can have negative effects on children.

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Children with a parent who has a SUD are more likely than children who do not have a parent

with a SUD to have lower socioeconomic status and increased difficulties in academic and

social settings and family functioning.

Exposure to violent home and community environments, as well as injury due to violence,

contribute to both reduced academic progress and increased disruptive or unfocused

classroom behavior for children, adolescents, and teenagers.

Bronfenbrenner's Bioecological systems theory (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006), states that

child and youth development is influenced by many different “contexts,” “settings,” or

“ecologies” (for example, family, peers, schools, communities, sociocultural belief systems,

policy regimes, and, of course, the economy).

The purpose of this paper is for the researcher to find out how family problems can affect the

student's attitude and behavior in school. This paper will also discuss what those effects are

and how can it affect the student's education. Family problems can affect the student’s

behavior in school negatively such as divorcing parents, financial problems, jealousy or

fighting between siblings, parents arguing, domestic violence, a parent or relative having drug

problems, a relative having mental health problems, disabilities, or illness. These can affect

the student’s performance in school negatively.

Significance of the Study

The study entitled, “The Effects of Family Problems on the Attitudinal and Behavioral

Acts of Senior High School Students in Some Selected Private Schools in Tacloban City” will

benefit the following individuals:

Students. This study will provide a wonderful opportunity for students to express

themselves on their worst experiences with family factors. That they should be regarded with
 7
more respect and respected, and that their opinions have a negative impact on the school's

operations. The results of this study will benefit the students' health and understanding.

Parents. This study would help the parents of the students to realize what they should do in

order to help their child to grow, knowing what behavior and attitude a child should have.

Also, for the parents to realize the causes of their problems that affect their child's attitude and

behavior.

Teachers. The result of this study can help educators in learning more about their

students' situations and contribute to more effective teaching preparation, hence reducing the

challenges that students face.

School Administration. This research can help school administrators become more

aware of the difficulty that students face and take better steps to aid those who are

experiencing difficulties.

Scope and Delimitation

This research focused on investigating the effects of family problems on the attitudinal

and behavioral acts of senior high school students in some selected private schools in

Tacloban City for the school year 2021-2022. The study involved the following private

schools in Tacloban City: AMA Computer Learning Center, Holy Infant College, St. Therese

Educational Foundation of Tacloban, Inc., and Liceo del Verbo Divino. They served as the

research locale of the investigation and were categorized as private institutions.

In this regard, the findings of the study are only valid in this specific setting and

cannot be assigned to other sites with different research participants. Process transferability

was considered instead and to facilitate this, a detailed description of the instrument, data
gathering procedure, and analysis in the methodology section of the research is given.

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The study covered a certain period in the life history of research respondents; thus, the

findings of the study are only valid for that time as subjects eventually face more family

problems from being senior high school students that can change, reinforce, and affect more

their attitudinal and behavioral acts.

Definition of terms

The following terms were used in the study:

Anxiety - a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or

something with an uncertain outcome.

Behavior problem - a symptomatic expression of emotional or interpersonal maladjustment

especially in children

Coping mechanism - a dynamic interplay between person and environment that occurs

when an individual appraises a situation or an event as stressful.

Depression - mood disorder that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest

Delinquency - minor crime, especially that committed by young people. Mental Health -

refers to cognitive, behavioral, and emotional well-being. It is all about how people think,

feel, and behave.

Nurturance - the ability to provide emotional and physical care.

Reinforce - strengthen or support (an object or substance), especially with additional

material.

Stress - a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very

demanding circumstances.
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CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter presents the foreign and local related literature and studies gathered from

online resources used by the researchers who sought this paper as a guide in order to conduct

more reliable studies. This Related Literature provided the researchers with a better

understanding and a broader perspective on the gathered information. The literature and

studies cited in this chapter address various ideas, concepts, generalizations, conclusions, and

developments related to the study from the past to the present. This will be used as a guide by

the researchers as they develop the study. Moreover, those included in this chapter aid in

familiarizing oneself with information that is relevant and similar to the current study.

Related Literature

According to Petzold (1998), the concept of family functioning is very important in

studying children’s behavior, as the family is responsible for supporting, protecting, and

guiding the children. According to L’Abate (1998), it is generally assumed that there are

strong and influential links between family functioning and individual behavior, and those

dysfunctional individuals generally grow up in dysfunctional families. Family functioning can

be described from several viewpoints, for example focusing on parenting styles (Cusinato,

1998), intergenerational relation-ships (Cicirelli, 1998), family composition, and structure

(Petzold, 1998), and familial interaction patterns (Brunner, 1998). In the next sections, we
discuss how these aspects of family functioning are related to child behavior problems.

Based on Ministry of Social Development, over the past two decades or so, a

significant literature has developed on the impact of family structure and family change on

child

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wellbeing. This literature documents an accumulating body of evidence that children raised in

different family contexts display differential patterns of outcomes across a wide range of

developmental domains. In particular, children raised in lone-parent families have been found,

on average, to do less well across a range of measures of wellbeing than their peers in two

parent families, while parental separation has been found to be associated with an array of

adverse outcomes for children. Behind these patterns of associations between family contexts

and child outcomes, however, lies a complex web of overlapping and interacting influences,

which means that interpreting these results is far from straightforward. It is the aim of this

paper to throw some light on the reasons why child outcomes are contingent on family

contexts.

Moreover, parental separation has been reported in the literature as being associated

with a wide range of adverse effects on children’s wellbeing, both as a short-term

consequence of the transition and in the form of more enduring effects that persist into

adulthood. Effects reported include adverse impacts on cognitive capacity (Fergusson,

Lynskey and Horwood 1994), schooling (Evans et al. 2001), physical health (Dawson 1991),

mental and emotional health (Chase-Lansdale et al. 1995), social conduct and behaviour

(Morrison and Coiro 1999), peer relations (Demo and Acock 1988), criminal offending

(Hanson 1999), cigarette smoking (Ermisch and Francesconi 2001), substance use

(Fergusson, Horwood and Lynskey 1994), early departure from home (Mitchell et al. 1989),
early-onset sexual behavior (Ellis et al. 2003) and teenage pregnancy (Woodward et al. 2001).

Furthermore, a range of impacts in early adulthood and beyond include higher rates of

early childbearing (McLanahan and Bumpass 1994), early marriage (Keith and Finlay 1988),

marital dissolution (Amato and DeBoer 2001), lone parenthood (McLanahan and Booth

1989), low occupational status (Biblarz and Gottainer 2000), economic hardship (McLanahan

and Booth 1989), poor-quality relationships with parents (Aquilino 1994), unhappiness

(Biblarz

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and Gottainer 2000), discontentment with life (Furstenberg and Teitler 1994), mistrust in

others (Ross and Mirowsky 1999), and reduced longevity (Tucker et al. 1997).

However, Demo and Acock (1996) note that “the differences in adolescent well-being

within family types are greater than the differences across family types, suggesting that family

processes are more important than family composition”. Indeed, O’Connor et al. (2001)

showed that differences in adjustment between children within the same family are as great as,

and even slightly greater than, differences between children in different families. Demo and

Acock (1996) note further that measures of family relations explained the largest proportion

of variance in adolescent wellbeing.

Thus, further stated, the majority of children whose parents have divorced function

within normal or average limits in the years after divorce (Kelly 1993). As a group, they

cannot be characterized as “disturbed”. There is a considerable range of functioning within

both groups of children from divorced and intact families. Among children whose parents

have divorced are many who are functioning quite well, while among children from intact

families are many with major adjustment problems. In short, there is no one-to-one

relationship between divorce and psychological adjustment problems in children.

 According to Okumu et al (2008), education is a fundamental human right for

economic growth and human development. Education is, therefore, necessary for all societies

to thrive in all aspects of growth. Education is valuable because it contributes to national

development through the provision of appropriate resource personnel that aids in stimulating

productivity as well as eliminating poverty, hunger disease, and ignorance (Republic of

Kenya 2005). A lot more study done by Kapunga (1992) shows that education liberates

society from socio-political forces that affect and influence his personality at the global level.

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Moreover, a lot of studies show that there is a big effect of the nature of family

background on the academic performance of children in school. The family background plays

a big part in the academic performance of children at all levels of education in the school

system. It is generally accepted that the quality of family interactions has important

associations with the children’s academic motivation and achievement. For instance, Ryan

(2000) shows that there is a significant effect of family background variables, parent support,

and teacher support on a child’s educational attainment. According to (Morgan et al, 2009),

stresses that children from low socioeconomic status households and communities develop

academic skills more slowly compared to their counterparts from higher socio-economic

status families. The low socio-economic status (economic struggling families) deprives

children of what is necessary to support their growth and welfare. Initial academic skills are

correlated with home environment where low literacy involvement and chronic stress

negatively affect a child’s academic performance. Parents from low socio-economic

backgrounds are less likely to have the financial resources or time availability to provide

children with academic support.

 Lastly, it is important to note that the education process and success is positively

impacted by favorable home learning opportunities such as parents encouraging that their

children have the right feeding, have security, and are happy and calm. They further reported

that creating a positive physical and mental atmosphere in the home helps to prepare students

to be ready and able to learn. A parent-child relationship characterized by nurturing,

acceptance, and encouragement, as well as parents’ responsiveness to the child's needs,

correlates with positive academic performance. However, according to the University of

Minnesota extension parental overprotectiveness, authoritarianism, disapproval, and

punishment often have a negative relationship with students’ academic performance. The

relationship between a family’s socio-economic status and academic performance has been

well established in sociological research.

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Related Studies

Families have a tremendous impact on children's learning habits and academic

accomplishment since they are the children's primary and most significant surroundings.

According to Coleman's study (1966), families may have an even bigger effect on a student's

academic success than schools and society. Since then, empirical study on family background

and children's success has discovered that family socioeconomic position may have a greater

influence on children's academic achievements than the impact of schools (Coleman et al.

1966; Peaker 1971; White 1980; Sirin 2005; Cheadle 2008)

According to the study of Jogdand, S., & Naik, J. (2014) Children's physical and social

development are being harmed by 'behavior problems.' A person's family provides emotional

support and plays an important role in his or her personality development. The nature and

quality of the children parental nurturing will have a considerable influence on his
development in the future. Knowing the family factors associated with behavior problems

might help identify children at risk.

From the study of Bennett, L. (2019, December 6) it is critical to review a child's home

and family life when he or she misbehaves or fails to meet school standards. A multitude of

household characteristics may have an impact on a child's behavior and capacity to perform in

school. Economic stability, changes in family relationships, parental attitudes toward

education, and incidents of child maltreatment are only a few of them.

The study of Bennett, T. (2019, August 1) Divorcing parents or combining two

families are examples of changes in family connections. Both situations might cause a child

to become confused or disturbed, resulting in them acting out or withdrawing from school.

14
According to Richards-Gustafson (2020), its's fairly uncommon for youngsters whose

parents are divorcing to have behavioral problems at school. A child's grief is caused by

divorce. Their thoughts wander and they are concerned about the divorce situation. During

school hours, a child's mind may wander due to guilt, feelings of loss, or dislike of a parent or

parents in a divorce situation. Aggression, loss of friends, isolation, intolerance for authority,

and a lack of perseverance in completing schoolwork are all possible behavioral concerns.

The socioeconomic status of a student's household has an impact on his or her

behavior. Children from well-off parents have huge educational advantages, even if they have

behavioral issues at school. A child from poverty or the lower middle class, on the other

hand, is more likely to repeat a grade, get suspended, expelled, or drop out of school.

According to the study of GRIN, (2017), Poor academic performance on national tests
has been attributed to a range of factors, the most of which are family-related, such as those

who are failing to achieve their responsibilities of ensuring a healthy and literate family as a

result of changing difficult economic times. Because of a lack of quality food, proper medical

care, and, more importantly, a child will not be given the required attention on his or her

academic work, which can cause him or her to lose focus, the size of the household in which

the child grows up has an impact on the child's growth and development.

According to the National School Safety and Security Services, children from violent

homes have violent tendencies. Violence or mental abuse between parents or between parents

and their children arises within a child, creating a fearful environment. Physical or mental

abuse is taught to the child as a solution to a range of issues, which can lead to aggressive,

disruptive,

and violent conduct in the classroom. Children who have been sexually raped or abused as

children may participate in sexual activities as children or seek to compel others to perform

sexual actions on them.

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CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

Research Design

The survey research design is used in this study. They chose this research design because it

will aid the researchers in their study. The researchers chose this research design because

they will be collecting data for their study through surveys.

For this investigation, the researchers will use surveys to collect data. They will collect data

from selected senior high pupils from Tacloban city's private institutions.
Research Locale

The study was conducted from the selected private schools at Tacloban City: AMA

Computer Learning Center (ACLC) located at 352 Real St. Tacloban City 6500 Tacloban

City, Philippines

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Holy Infant College (HIC) located at Benigno Aquino St, Tacloban City, Leyte

St. Therese Educational Foundation of Tacloban, Inc (STEFTI) located at 91 Brgy,

Tacloban City, 6500 Leyte
17
and Liceo del Verbo Divino (LVD) located at Avenida Veteranos, Downtown, Tacloban

City, Leyte

This study was implemented on Senior High Students of the selected private schools of
Tacloban City.

Respondents of the Study

The respondents of this study are selected students, from 50 to 60 respondents per
school. Only Senior High School Students from the selected private school were included in

the study, which had no particular strand (ACLC, HIC, STEFTI, and LVD.)

Research Instrument

To get the appropriate data needed, the researchers will give out questionnaires with

four (4) parts. Part 1 is where we ask the profile of the respondents. This part will determine

their name (optional), age, gender, the number of members in the family, how many sibling/s

does the respondent has, and the respondent's birth order among his/her siblings.

18
Part 2 is the tool for us, researchers, to determine the kind of problems that the respondent

face. This will be a checklist type. The researchers will provide a list of possible family

problems and respondents get to check the kind of problems they face daily.

Part 3 in the questionnaire is the perception of senior high students. All items in this part were

a form checklist where the respondents will check what applies to them in every item. The

respondents will evaluate the items in the question of part III from the four Likert scales, such

as: Strongly Agree (SA), Agree (A), Neutral, Disagree (D), Strongly Disagree (SD).

Statistical Treatment

The researchers will use the following statistical treatment to effectively interpret the

data collected from senior high school students. The percentage, weighted mean, and rank are

all taken into account.

1. Percentage
 The percentage formula will be applied to the respondents' demographic profile,

specifically their name (optional), age, gender, the number of family members, how many

sibling/s the respondent has, and the respondent's birth order among his/her siblings. P (%) =

��× 100 ��

Where:

P = Percentage

F = Frequency

N = total number of responses

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2. Rank

The responses of every statement gathered during the checklist type question will be

replaced by their rank when the data are sorted using this formula:

= RANK (number, ref, [order])

The RANK function uses the following arguments:

1. Number (required argument) – This is the value for which the rank must be

determined.

2. Ref (required argument) – The range of numbers against which to rank. 3. Order

(optional argument) – A number that specifies how the ranking will be performed (ascending

or descending order).

* 0 – is used to indicate descending order.

* 1 – is used to indicate ascending order.

 * If we don't provide an argument, the default value is 0. (descending order). It

will accept any non-zero value as 1 as the value (ascending order).

3. Weighted Mean

Using this formula, the weighted mean will be computed to obtain the average or

central value of the responses in each statement in the likert scale questions:

WM = (��1∗5)+(��2∗4)+(��3∗3)+(��4∗2)+(��5∗1)
��

Where:

WM = Weighted Mean

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��1= no. of respondents in strongly agree

��2= no. of respondents in agree

��3= no. of respondents in neutral

��4= no. of respondents in disagree

��5= no. of respondents in strongly disagree

n = total no. of respondents

The General Weighted Mean will be computed using this formula:

GWM = ∑ ��8

Where:

GWM = General Weighted Mean

∑ ��= summation of the weighted mean

Research Procedure

In this research, the researcher will use Quantitative Research in identifying the

Effects of Family Problems on the Attitudinal and Behavioral Acts of Senior High School

Students in Some selected Private Schools in Tacloban City."

According to Kothari "Quantitative Research is based on the measurement of quantity

or amount. It is applicable to phenomena that can be expressed in terms of quantity.".

According to Quantification, it is the assignment of a number to represent an amount or a

perceived degree of something. That is the association of numbers behaviors, objects, or

events. The researchers need to know the percentage of the Effects of Family Problems on the

Attitudinal and Behavioral Acts of Senior High School Students in Some Selected Private

Schools in Tacloban City.

21
The data analysis used is quantitative research, which means that the writer collects

the data from the chosen respondents and must conduct the research through distributing

surveys and by having an online meet-up. Due to this pandemic caused by Covid-19, it is not

a safe place and comfort for the researchers and respondents to meet personally. In that way,

it will avoid instances where the people involved can get exposed to the stated virus. Some

students in some selected private schools were chosen to participate in this Survey Research.
22