How the covid pandemic/lockdown affected the mental health of students

A Science Investigatory Project (SIP)

Presented to the Faculty of the Junior High School Department

Leyte National High School

Lino R. Gonzaga Avenue, Tacloban City, Philippines

presented by:

Mark Anthony C. Balintong Carlo Cesar F. Casido

Karl Nino C. Dacuycuy Dream John Gabriel C. Nicolas

Science Technology and Engineering

10-Pasteur

S.Y.2022-2023
 introduction
Background of the study
The covid pandemic has affected a lot of businesses and our country’s economy and not just

that but students as well, and their mental health too ever since the pandemic started. Schools

worldwide promptly responded to the pandemic by doing online classes. In record time, students

moved from physical spaces that provided them with much-needed social interactions, to being

seated behind a screen for hours on end. The sudden change to online platforms happened at a

slower pace, and was mainly driven by the academic institutions that already had digital learning

platforms in place, and the means to operate them. Students learn, keep, and apply information

most effectively when they have received personalized education paths and when sufficient

resources are made available to them. In typical classrooms, students that require more attention

or support are tended to – however, with the pandemic, this was no longer the case. The

effectiveness of online learning is still the subject of debate of whether if it is as good as physical

classes or not. Experts have been studying the retention of information by students and how

remote learning has affected the development and social abilities of children. In this study we

will find out whether or not this kind if method is good for the mental health of students and their

social skills.
Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted most countries to opt for population containment and
social distancing measures to control the spread of the virus. However, significant psychological
effects have been reported in previous containment experiments. This pandemic has already
shown significant psychological symptoms related to anxiety, stress and depression. In addition,
an association between psychological and physical symptoms has been shown. Using a chain
mediation model, the authors showed that the need for health information and the perceived
impact of the pandemic were sequential mediators between physical symptoms resembling
COVID-19 infection (predictor) and subsequent mental health status (outcome).
The development of new guidelines to establish appropriate counseling, preventive and curative
psychological actions online or for specific groups such as healthcare workers or older people
have been identified as necessary measures in this situation. Thus, the use of cognitive
behavioral therapy (CBT), particularly Internet-based CBT, could aid in the prevention of the
spread of infection during the pandemic. Unfortunately, none of these measures currently address
the particularly vulnerable student population.
Studies have demonstrated the importance of assessing the health-related quality of life of the
student community, a population group passing through an important phase of life. The
epidemics SARS, Ebola, H1N1 and now COVID-19 have had a significant impact on the
activity, behavior, morale and health of our fellow citizens. The first studies conducted in China
on the impact of the current epidemic reported a significant amount of anxiety and depressive
disorders as well as sleep disorders. Other studies have suggested a risk of increased suicidal
behavior, psychotic symptoms, psychosomatic symptoms, symptoms of post-traumatic stress and
consumption of psychoactive substances (alcohol, tobacco, etc.). The situation of the lockdown
and its psychosocial and economic consequences but also fear oneself, and one's loved ones, of
contamination, the virus, the illness and its consequences (serious somatic disorders and death)
act on the mental health of students. Moreover, long periods of social isolation are well known to
be associated with mental health problems, post-traumatic stress symptoms, avoidance behaviors
and family conflicts. In our study, mental health status of post-secondary students was closer to
that of chronically ill young adults than the general population and higher than that of Mexican
students; the MCS was close to 23.7 with the presence of moderate depressive symptoms versus
39 with severe anxiety. However, this comparison is cautioned because of the different culture
and educational system between the two populations.
Statement of the Problem
Main problem

How has the covid-19 lockdown affected the mental health of students?
Sub-Problems:

1.How effective was the method used to handle the education of students during the lockdown?
1.1) was the method used effective?
1.2) will distance learning have an effect as to how students get educated?
1.3) will it affect the student's ability to socially interact?
2.What was their means of communication with other people?
2.1) Is talking through online means the same as talking in real life?
3.Would students prefer f2f or online classes?
Significance of the Study

The covid-19 pandemic just came out of nowhere and has affected the lives of

many different people, establishments, and businesses all around the globe. More affected by this

pandemic/lockdown are students who are used being present physically in their classroom to

stuck staring at a screen for hours on end. This study will find out if the covid-19

pandemic/lockdown has affected students' mental health and social abilities.

Scopes and Limitations

This study will investigate the effects of the sudden pandemic/lockdown has on the

students mentally and socially. Based on what we have found out so far that the pandemic has

most definitely affected the students mentally, socially, and in their studies but this is not that

exact cause so far only a few students seem to be affected by this and not everyone.
Definition of terms

Pandemic – occurring over a wide geographic area (such as multiple countries or continents)

and typically affecting a considerable proportion of the population

Covid-19 – an acute respiratory illness in humans caused by a coronavirus, capable of

producing severe symptoms and in some cases death, especially in older people and those with

underlying health conditions. It was originally identified in China in 2019 and became pandemic

in 2020.
 LITERATURE REVIEW

Online, we have found 2 other articles related to our topic that have inspired us to conduct

more detailed research that would help other researchers as well to conduct research related to

our own. According to (Thoresen, et.al, 2021), the spread of COVID-19 virus and the

countermeasures against it has a significant impact on the mental health of teenagers. By this, we

would know that the lack of studies can shed light on the potential, social, emotional, and

behavioural of students in this lockdown. Furthermore, according to (Afrin, et. Al, 2022), the

current population’s mental and physical health are at risk because of the pandemic. This article

we have found had greatly helped us in conducting our research and from these, we learned a lot

of methods that proved to be useful for us. The mental health of teenagers should really be

cherished by their parents and especially by themselves to have a calm mind, good and healthy

life even during these hard times.

 METHODOLOGY

Methods

Research Design

This research used the surveying/questioning, where there were 17 student responders, who

are friends and relevant of the researchers. Since the researchers aimed to know whether the

pandemic made an impact on the mental health of the above respondents or not, then the above

technique was the most appropriate to use.

Data gathering procedure

Data collection,

The researchers who aimed to survey the students mentioned earlier, had a difficulty gathering
the data needed because of the limited movement of people nowadays caused by the pandemic as
we all know, fortunately, technology nowadays is accessible more than ever. The data gathering,
which was through surveys, was made through messages on the researchers’ cellular phones.
Furthermore, the method used by the researchers on data gathering was more convenient for us
since we did not need to go to the respondents’ houses to conduct a survey on them one by one.
Preparation

Since the researchers used technology as a means of communication to the respondents, the

researchers had to charge their mobile phones up to its full battery capacity, and have access to

the internet before the surveying began. After the above procedure have been done, the survey

finally took place. But before the researchers had conducted the survey, the questionnaires had to

be validated first. The researchers did the Reliability Test through determining the Cronbach’s

Alpha value of our questionnaires, which fortunately had a passing value; the procedure of

validation was as follows:

 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

Data Analysis

After conducting the survey, the researchers finally had the results. The results of the survey

were as follows:

Legends for Q2: 1-Not at all 2- Slight 3-Moderate

4-Difficult 5-Extreme
After the researchers have seen the results, the data showed that in the first question, there were

12(71%) respondents who said that the pandemic had an impact on their mental health, while

there were 5(29%) respondents who said the pandemic had not. For the second question, 8(47%)

respondents said that they have friends to make calls with whenever they are sad during the

pandemic, and there were 9(53%) respondents said that they do not have contacts with their

friends. And for the third question, 5(29%) respondents said ‘1’ which means “Not at all” in the

Legend, then 7(41%) respondents said ‘2’ which means “Slight” in the legend. Next, there were

2(11%) respondents said ‘3’ which means “Moderate” in the legend, then finally, there were

3(18%) respondents who said ‘4’ which means “Difficult” in the legend.
Discussions

Summary of Findings

Given the information above, the respondents had excellent responses to the researchers’

surveys. Summarizing the data collected from the survey;

In Q1, the percentage of those mental health's were affected by the pandemic was larger than

those who are unaffected by it.

In Q2, the percentage of those who has contact with their friends to relieve them were smaller

than those who does not.

In Q3, having two groups of answers (‘1’ and ‘2’) and the other group (‘3’ and ‘4’), the first

group of answers (‘1’ and ‘2’) (which means that the pandemic had only made an unsignificant

impact on their learning) had more percentage than the other group of answers (‘3’ and ‘4’).

Discussions

Summary of Findings
 Given the information above, the respondents had excellent responses to the researchers’

surveys. Summarizing the data collected from the survey;

In Q1, the percentage of those mental health's were affected by the pandemic was larger than

those who are unaffected by it.

In Q2, the percentage of those who has contact with their friends to relieve them were smaller

than those who does not.

In Q3, having two groups of answers (‘1’ and ‘2’) and the other group (‘3’ and ‘4’), the first

group of answers (‘1’ and ‘2’) (which means that the pandemic had only made an unsignificant

impact on their learning) had more percentage than the other group of answers (‘3’ and ‘4’).
Conclusions

After the researchers had struggled to finally complete the summary of findings from

the data gathered, it was finally the time to had conducted the conclusions. Restating

the hypotheses that were made during the beginning parts of the research;

(1) The pandemic has affected the mental health of students,

(2) It also affected the social abilities of students; and

(3) The pandemic has affected the learning ability of students.

From the data collected by the researchers, the conclusions that had been made

were;

(1) The pandemic really has affected the mental health of the teenager students

during the lockdown, which proves the first hypothesis to be true,

(2) The pandemic has also affected the social abilities of the students from the

data collected from the second question that the respondents had responded.

Also proving the second hypothesis to be true; and

(3) The pandemic may have changed our means of education a lot but our survey

told us that it wasn’t hard for some of the student respondents which is a very

good thing because we are finally getting the hang of it as time passes.

Therefore, proving our third hypothesis to be false in a sense that less

students are having a hard time on our new learning methods.

 REFERENCES

Daniunaite, I., Triskauskaite-Kuneviciene, I., Thoresen,S. Et.al.

Adolescents amid COVID-19 pandemic: a prospective study of

psychological functioning. Child Adolescent Psychiatry Ment

Health 15, 45 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13034-021-00397-z

Afrin, S., Nasrullah, S.M., Dalal, K. Et.al. Mental health status of

adolescent's in-home quarantine: multi-region, cross-sectional

study during COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh. BMC Psychol

10, 116 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-022-00819-3