CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Background of the study

Stress is considered to be part of Students life and can impact the student’s
coping strategies in accordance with the demands of academic life. This is because
academic work is always accomplished with stressful activities (Agolla & Ongori,
2009).

Students reported their experience of high academic stress at predictable

times in each semester which results from preparing and taking exams, class
ranking competition and mastering huge amount of syllabus in a comparatively very
small amount time (Rawson, Bloomer & Kendal, 1999).

Stress arises when there are burdens on the person which exceed his
available asset. If stress is harsh and extended, it can lessen academic
performance, hinder with a student’s capability to involve in and add to campus life,
and raise the probability of substance abuse and other potentially destructive
behaviors (Richlin-Klonsky & Hoe, 2003).

One model that is valuable for understanding stress among university

students is the Person-Environmental Model (Misa & McKean, 2000). This model
suggests that individuals can consider stressful events as demanding or frightening.
Perception of educational goals as a challenge brings stress and in turn this stress
creates a sense of competence and enhanced learning capability. However,
perception of education as a threat brings such stress which brings forth hopeless
and foreboding sense of loss, thus leading to lower academic achievement.

We conduct this study because nowadays, there are some students who end
their life through stress, depression and anxiety because of academic performance and it
can affect our mental health. Therefore, we want to give awareness and enhanced their
knowledge about mental health.

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Research Question

This study generally aims to determine the perceived effects of stress on

students’ behaviors. Specifically, this study attempts to answer the following
statements:

1. What is the profile of the respondents in terms of:

1.1 age:

1.2 sex: and

1.3 grade level?

2. What are the perceived effects of stress on the behavior of students?

Significance of the study

The result of this study would be beneficial to the following:

Students- The result of this study may help the students in managing their
time in school related and others to prevent stress and to increase calmness,
relaxation, and self-acceptance.

Teachers- The result of this study may provide information to the teachers to
lessen the schoolwork’s and always check on their student’s mental health.

Parent- The result of this study may provide information to the parents on how
their son/daughter’s mental health and support system in the family should be
strengthened.

Researchers- The result of this study may provide information or supporting

data for those who would take interest in other related studies of future researchers.

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Definition of Terms

To facilitate clear understanding of the terms used in the study, the following
terms were defined conceptually and operationally.

Perceived- this refers to becoming aware or conscious of something or come

to realize or understand.

Stress- how we react when we feel under pressure or threatened.

Behavior- the way in which one acts or conduct oneself when feeling
stressed.

Review of Related Literature

Students in secondary education settings face a wide range of ongoing

normative stressors, which can be defined as normal day to day hassles such as
ongoing academic demands.

Accordingly (UNESCO, 2012) secondary/high school students commonly self-

report experience ongoing stress relating to their education, which we refer to as
academic-related stress, such as pressure to achieve high marks and concerns
about receiving poor grades.

The experience of high levels of academic-related stress increases the risk of

young people developing preventable physical health problems later in life. A
systematic review of prospective studies found that people who were stressed, such
as during examination periods, were less likely to be physically active, the impact of
which is associated with a plethora of potentially inter-related poor physical health
outcomes (Stults Kolehmainen & Sinha, 2014).

Good stress management skills have the potential to benefit young people in
an ongoing manner throughout their lives, given that many long-term health-related

3
behaviors and patterns, both positive and negative are established during
adolescence and early adulthood (Sawyer et al., 2012)

The World Health Organization (1996) states that students must be healthy
and emotionally secure to fully participate in education. Indeed, the OECD survey
reports that anxiety about schoolwork, homework and tests has a negative impact on
students’ academic performance. The survey highlights that top-performing girls
report that the fear of making mistakes often disrupts their test performance (OESD,
2015).

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 CHAPTER II
RESEARCH METHOLOGY
This chapter presents the research design, research respondents, research
locale, research instrument, data gathering procedure, data scoring and analysis of
data to be used in this study.

Research Design

This study uses the descriptive survey method of research to determine the
perceived effects of stress on students’ behavior.

Research Respondents

The respondents in this study are the 100 randomly selected Junior and
Senior High School students of Naval School of Fisheries. The researchers will use
random sampling in determining the respondents.

Research Locale

This study was conducted at the Naval School of Fisheries SY: 2022-2023.

Research Instrument

The researchers use a standardized questionnaire as the main tool in

gathering data. The first part of the questionnaire is the demographic section which
aimed to know the students age, gender and grade level. The second part of the
questioner contains the perceived effects of stress on students’ behavior.

5
Data Gathering Procedure

The researchers asked permission to the school heads before the conduct of
the study. The researcher instrument will be personally administered to the
respondents. Data will be consolidated, tallied, and analyzed using the appropriate
statistical treatment.

Data Scoring

To determine the comprehended impact of stress, the following 5 likert scale

and means values was used.

Score Range Description

5 4.3-5.0 Strongly Agree

4 3.5-4.2 Agree

3 2.7-3.4 Neutral

2 1.9-2.6 Disagree

1 1.0-1.8 Strongly Disagree

Analysis of Data

The researchers used weighted mean, frequency counts and percentage as

tools for the treatment in the data to be gathered. These will be used to determine
the perceived effects of stress among respondents.

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 QUESTIONNAIRE

“PERCEIVED EFFECTS OF STRESS ON STUDENTS’ BEHAVIOUR”

Dear Respondents,

We are conducting a study on the perceived effects of stress on students’

behavior. We would greatly appreciate it if you could answer this questionnaire as it
is crucial part of our study. Please respond honestly to the items and you can be
assured that your responses will be kept confidential.

Part I. Direction: Put a checkmark on the corresponding box for your answers.

Gender: Male Female

Age: _________

Grade Level: Grade 9 Grade 10 Grade 11 Grade 12

Part II. Directions: Read each statements carefully. To the right of each statement,
put a check mark under the number that best describes how each statement applies
to you by using the following guide:

1 2 3 4 5
Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly
Disagree Agree

Answer honestly as there are no correct or incorrect answers. It is best if you

do not think about each question too long as this could lead you to wrong conclusion.

7
 Statements 1 2 3 4 5
1. You easily feel depressed
2. You easily loose motivation
3. You easily get exhausted
4. You feel lonely or isolated
5. You easily loose confidence
6. You feel tired
7. You feel restless
8. You are irritable or grouchy
9. You feel drained in energy
10. You feel discouraged
11. You feel mentally exhausted
12. You have trouble relaxing
13. You easily get triggered
14. I easily feel angry when I’m stressed
15. You feel tense
16. You have trouble calming down
17. You feel frustrated
18. You easily get nervous
19. You have little motivation on the things you
want to do
20. You feel criticized or judged

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 CHAPTER III

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter presents, analyze and interpret the data gathered from the research
instruments, Results are presented according to its objective

Profile of the respondents

Table I.

Demographic Profile of the Students

Age F(N-100) %
14 18 18
15 22 22
16 27 27
17 15 15
18 17 17
19 1 1
Gender
Male 28 28
Female 72 72
Grade Level
12 25 25
11 25 25
10 25 25
9 25 25

Gender. The table above shows that there were 28 (28%) male and there were 72
(72%) of female. Majority of the respondents were female.

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Age. As shown in the table above, there were 18 (18%) under the age of 14, 22
(22%) in under the age of 15, 27 (27%) in under the age of 16, 15 (15%) in under the
age of 17, 17 (17%) in under the age of 18 and 1 (1%) in under the age of 19.
Majority of the respondents were 16 which reveals that most of the students were
appropriate for grade 9-10

Grade Level. AS reflected in the table 25 (25%) is under the grade 12, 25 (25%) in
grade 11, 25 (25%) in grade 10 and 25 (25%) in grade 9. The result reveals that they
are all equal.

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 Table II.

Perceived Effects of Stress on Students Behaviors

Statements Weighted Interpretation

Mean
1. You easily feel depressed 3.05 Agree
2. You easily loose motivation 3.02 Neutral
3. You easily get exhausted 3.24 Neutral
4. You feel lonely or isolated 3.15 Neutral
5. You easily loose confidence 3.3 Neutral
6. You feel tired 3.58 Agree
7. You feel restless 3.32 Neutral
8. You are irritable or grouchy 3.00 Neutral
9. You feel drained in energy 3.23 Neutral
10. You feel discouraged 3.11 Neutral
11. You feel mentally exhausted 3.15 Neutral
12. You have trouble relaxing 3.26 Neutral
13. You easily get triggered 3.08 Agree
14. I easily feel angry when I’m stressed 3.49 Neutral
15. You feel tense 3.11 Neutral
16. You have trouble calming down 3.14 Neutral
17. You feel frustrated 3.21 Neutral
18. You easily get nervous 3.44 Neutral
19. You have little motivation on the things 3.37 Neutral
you want to do
20. You feel criticized or judged 3.46 Neutral
Overall Mean 3.24 Neutral

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 The table above shows the perception of the respondents of Perceived
Effects of Stress on Students Behaviors. Table II shows that statement number 6
“you feel tired” with a weighted mean of 3.58 (3.58%) interpreted as agree, has the
highest weighted mean while statement number 8 “you are irritable or grouchy” with
the weighted mean of 3.00 (3.00%) interpreted as Neutral has the lowest weighted
mean. As reflected in the table above overall mean is 3.24 (Neutral) therefore, the
result implies that the respondents are not sure of the effects of stress on students’
behavior.

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 CHAPTER IV

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

Conclusion

Based on the study and the data gathered, the researchers arrived on the
following conclusion.

Therefore, based on the results the respondents are unsure of the perceive
effects of stress on students’ behavior.

The findings indicate that the majority respondents were female and most the
respondents, age fell under the age of 16 years old. The majority of grade level is the
same, they are all equal.

Recommendation

Based on the study conducted, the following recommendation are offered for
consideration.

1. Students should explore more on their feelings of stress.

2. Students should take time and make sure to identify their feelings or emotion of
stress.

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14
List of References

Agolla, J. E. & Ongori, H. (2009). An Assesment of Academiv Stress among

Undergraduates.
Misra, R. & McKean, M. (2000). College students academic stress and its relation to
their
Anxiety, time management, and leisure satisfaction. American Journal of
Health Studies, 16 (1): 41-52.
Rawson, H. E., Bloomer, K., & Kendall, A. (1999). Stress, anxiety, depression, and
Physical illness in college students. The Journal of Genetic Psychology
155(3): 321-330.
Richlin-Klonsky, J. & Hoe, R. (2003). Sources and levels of stress among UCLA
students.
Student Affairs Briefing, 2.
Sawyer et al., Adolescence: A Foundation for Future Health, “The Lancet 379, no.
9826
(2012): 1630-40.
Stults-Kolehmainen, M. A., & Sinha, R. (2014). The effects of stress on physical
activities
and exercise. Sports Med, 44(1), 81-121.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-013-0090-5
Vermut R., Steensma H. (2005). How can justice be used to manage stress in
organizations? In J. Greenberg and J. A. Colquitt (Ed), Handbook of
organizational justice, 283-410. Mawah, NJ: Erlbaum.

15
 Appendix A

SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE

“PERCEIVED EFFECTS OF STRESS ON STUDENTS’ BEHAVIOUR”

Dear Respondents,

We are conducting a study on the perceived effects of stress on students’

behavior. We would greatly appreciate it if you could answer this questionnaire as it
is crucial part of our study. Please respond honestly to the items and you can be
assured that your responses will be kept confidential.

Part I. Direction: Put a checkmark on the corresponding box for your answers.

Gender: Male Female

Age: _________

Grade Level: Grade 9 Grade 10 Grade 11 Grade 12

Part II. Directions: Read each statements carefully. To the right of each statement,
put a check mark under the number that best describes how each statement applies
to you by using the following guide:

1 2 3 4 5
Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly
Disagree Agree

Answer honestly as there are no correct or incorrect answers. It is best if you

do not think about each question too long as this could lead you to wrong conclusion.

16
 1- Strongly Agree 2- Agree 3- Neutral 4- Disagree 5- Strongly Disagree

Statements 1 2 3 4 5
1. You easily feel depressed
2. You easily loose motivation
3. You easily get exhausted
4. You feel lonely or isolated
5. You easily loose confidence
6. You feel tired
7. You feel restless
8. You are irritable or grouchy
9. You feel drained in energy
10. You feel discouraged
11. You feel mentally exhausted
12. You have trouble relaxing
13. You easily get triggered
14. I easily feel angry when I’m stressed
15. You feel tense
16. You have trouble calming down
17. You feel frustrated
18. You easily get nervous
19. You have little motivation on the things you
want to do
20. You feel criticized or judged

17