Republic of the Philippines

NUEVA ECIJA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

GABALDON CAMPUS
Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija
LABORATORY HIGH SCHOOL

The effects of Home-activities on Mental health to grade 7 in

NEUST Gabaldon Campus

Thana C. Arimbuyutan
Ma. Alexandra G. Alfonso
Sir Lyndon s. Galvez
Sarah Nicole P. Gorospe
Kerstine Rein M. Ramos
Researchers

Mr. Alvin V. Valdez

Research Adviser

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 Republic of the Philippines
NUEVA ECIJA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
GABALDON CAMPUS
Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija
LABORATORY HIGH SCHOOL

Chapter 1
The Problem and it’s Background

Introduction

It has also been found through various studies that

increased academic pressure often tends to push students towards
unhealthy and deviant behavior which includes not only changes
in their sleep cycle but also their intense indulgence in sexual
activity and substance abuse.

There are a million students across the world who undergo

extreme levels of stress because of academic pressure. There
have been various studies that have been done on academic
pressure and it has found that academic pressure can have
extremely negative effects on students.
From a young age we are taught that excelling in academics
succession on an extremely high pedestal, and therefore, people
place a lot of unnecessary high value on academic excellence.
Although it is good to apply a little pressure on the students
so that they do well in their studies and can make a successful
career, it is often that the pressure is too much. Too much of
anything is never good.

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 Republic of the Philippines
NUEVA ECIJA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
GABALDON CAMPUS
Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija
LABORATORY HIGH SCHOOL

The Mental health of Grade 7 student is extremely bad in

today’s time. We live in a time where everything is a
competition and everyone is a competitor. Everybody has to
defeat others to rise. However, there is another kind of
competition where there is no winner in particular as the
competition is never-ending. This adds extreme pressure on
students to constantly do well which tends to drive them off the
limits at the time. The pressure on students nowadays are from
multiple sources. It’s not just the parents and family members
but also the educational institute and society in general.
Society plays a huge role in the pressure felt by students
across the world today. Current times are not just full of
competition but there is also a lack of job opportunities a lock
of space, possible because despite the increase in the types of
available workspace, there is still a surplus amount of educated
unemployed people. There are multiples stories that one comes
across daily wherein highly educated people to end up either in
a very low-paying job, jobless, or even the streets. This all
adds more pressure on students to perform well in academics.

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 Republic of the Philippines
NUEVA ECIJA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
GABALDON CAMPUS
Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija
LABORATORY HIGH SCHOOL

Academic pressure on young adults has reached intense

levels. The stress of getting into the right college, making
good grades, and landing the best internships-all in preparation
for success in the workplace-takes an enormous toll on young
adult mental health. Too often, academic success comes at the
expense of young adults’ social and emotional development.

Academic pressure may come from family expectations, the

ambitious goals students set for themselves, or the demands
placed on them by society at large. Coaches and school
administrators may also push students to succeed. Whatever the
source of academic pressure, the results can be determinantal to
well-being on multiple levels. When young adults feel they must
prioritize academic achievement over everything else-including
physical heath, positive relationships with peers and family,
creative self-expression, and downtime to recharge-they pay a
high mental health toll. Academic pressure can lead to
depression, anxiety disorders, or high-functioning anxiety. It
has also been found through various studies that increased
academic pressure often tends to push students towards unhealthy
and deviant behavior which includes not only changes in their
intense indulgence in sexual activity and substance abuse.

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 Republic of the Philippines
NUEVA ECIJA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
GABALDON CAMPUS
Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija
LABORATORY HIGH SCHOOL

Statements of the Problem

The study bought to answer the following question:

1.What is the socio-demographic profile of the respondents in

terms of:

1.1 Sex
1.2 Age
1.3 Grade level

2. What are the effects of academic pressure on students?

2.1 depression
2.2 anxiety disorders
2.3 self-esteem
2.4 sleep deprivation

3.What are the academic problems faced by the students?

3.1 Learning difficulties

3.2 Lack of attention from teachers
3.3 underachievement of school works

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 Republic of the Philippines
NUEVA ECIJA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
GABALDON CAMPUS
Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija
LABORATORY HIGH SCHOOL

Definition of terms
The following terms were defined operationally for the
purpose of clarification.

Anxiety – A feeling of fear, dread, and uneasiness.

Evaluation of Anxiety – The fear of negative evaluation (FNE)is

Considered be a hallmark of social anxiety.

Mental Health – Includes our emotional, psychological, and

social-being.

Preparation of Anxiety – Anxiety directed toward the work

required to prepare for a performance, rather than toward the
performance itself, and it often provokes individuals to put off
or avoid preparation.

Academic Pressure – An experience in which a student is burdened

by the demands of time and energy to achieve specific academics
goals.

Depression – A common and serious medical illness that

negatively affects how you feel, the way you think and how you
act.

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 Republic of the Philippines
NUEVA ECIJA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
GABALDON CAMPUS
Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija
LABORATORY HIGH SCHOOL

Psychoneuroimmunologically – The study of how psychological,

neural, and immunologic process interact and affect human health
and behavior. Although once a relatively small field, some of
the most exciting discoveries in psychopathology and mental
health research have recently involved ideas and methods from
PNI.

Society – Mental health includes our emotional, psychological,

and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act.

Socio-demographic – Demographic characteristics, especially age

and marital/cohabitation status were highly relevant in terms of
mental health. Younger age being single was associated with
elevated risk of perceived stress, depressiveness, overtiredness
and also for suicidal thoughts

Behavior – Mental health problems can affect a student’s energy

level, concentration, dependability, mental ability, and
optimism, hindering performance. Research suggests that
depression is associated with lower grade points averages, and
that co-occurring depression and anxiety can increase thus
association.

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 Republic of the Philippines
NUEVA ECIJA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
GABALDON CAMPUS
Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija
LABORATORY HIGH SCHOOL

Underachievement – Occurs when a child’s academic performance is

below what is expected based on the child’s ability, aptitude or
intelligence

Sleep deprivation – Studies also show that sleep deficiency

changes activity in some parts of brain. If you’re sleep
deficient, you may have trouble making decisions, solving
problems, controlling your emotion and behavior and coping with
changes. Sleep deficiency has also been linked to the
depression, suicide, and risk-taking behavior.

Self-esteem – Self-esteem is how we value and perceive

ourselves. It’s base on our opinions and beliefs about
ourselves, which can feel difficult to change. We might also
think of these as self-confidence. Your self-esteem can affect
whether you like and value yourself as a person.

Proponent – The proponent is the faculty member/researcher. Job

title/Position and Academic rank of the researcher. Name of the
head of the college. Background of the study. This refers to the
overview of the project, discussing the factors that led to the
conceptualization pf the problem.

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 Republic of the Philippines
NUEVA ECIJA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
GABALDON CAMPUS
Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija
LABORATORY HIGH SCHOOL

Significance of the study

This research would be beneficial to the students because
they will know the negative effects of depression in their
academic performance. In this study the students can be aware on
things that depression can do them. This research would also be
beneficial to teachers and administrators because they will be
able to understand the changes of the behavior, perception in
life and academic performances of the students that were engaged
to stress and depression.

They can easily cope up to the student’s attitude. This

research would help to the parents they can know the effects of
stress and depression to their child. The parents knowing the
risk of depression they can help to prevent and avoid their
child to be depressed. This research would be beneficial to the
future researcher because they can get some information that
might needed in their research and some of their question may
possibly be answered by this research.

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 Republic of the Philippines
NUEVA ECIJA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
GABALDON CAMPUS
Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija
LABORATORY HIGH SCHOOL

Parents – Parental pressure is the emotional stress parents tend

to put on their children and is often related to academic
success, cultural and social standards, and other factors. The
leading cause of parental pressure comes out of concern for the
welfare of their children and their employment.

Self – You experience pressure when you worry about living up to

your own or other people’s expectations. You may also feel it in
situations that you have no control over, and when you don’t
have time or the means to do what is being demanded of you.

Students – Pressure to do well at school has been shown to

increase stress and anxiety in students, leading to poorer
physical, social, and emotional health. Students can feel
pressure from their parents, school, teachers, society or
themselves to achieve higher grades and academic success.

Future Researchers – To create a useful reference for the

researchers who would plan to make a related study.

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 Republic of the Philippines
NUEVA ECIJA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
GABALDON CAMPUS
Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija
LABORATORY HIGH SCHOOL

Conceptual Framework

Input Process Output

 The socio-  Establishing a

demographic profile self-care
of the respondents.  Survey routine,
schedule and
 The effect of questionnaire
academic pressure prioritize
 Data activities that
on students.
Gathering will support
 The academic
coping
problems faced by
mechanism
the students.

Figure 1. Conceptual Framework

The researches often to use Input-Process-Output diagram. The
first diagram depicts the socio-demographic profile of the
respondents. the effect of academic pressure on students, the
academic problems faced by the students. Will be use to analyze
the data.

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 Republic of the Philippines
NUEVA ECIJA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
GABALDON CAMPUS
Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija
LABORATORY HIGH SCHOOL

The final diagram depicts the study’s main focus which is

Establishing a self-care routine and schedule and priorities
activities that will support your coping mechanism.

Hypothesis of the study

The study is design to asses the hypothesis that too much

homework affects the mental health of the students.

Scope and Limitation

This study focuses on the effects of depression to the

academic performance of Grade 7 laboratory High School in NEUST
Gabaldon Campus. The data collection will be conduct to 40
randomly student in Grade 7 laboratory High School of NEUST
Gabaldon Campus School years 2023-2024 who will present the
population.

This study will not cover other problems that are not
consider as one of the stressors and depressant. Each of the
respondents is given the same questionnaire to answer. The
result of this study will be applicable only to the respondents
of this study and will not be use as a measure to the effects of
depression to the academic performance of the students who do
not belong to the population of this study the main source of
data will be the questionnaire, which is prepared by the
researchers.
Republic of the Philippines
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 NUEVA ECIJA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
GABALDON CAMPUS
Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija
LABORATORY HIGH SCHOOL

Chapter II

Review of Related Literature

This section deals with the review of related concepts

and studies found in previous literature.

Homework is a pervasive and controversial practice, and

a common culprit for producing academic stress in students.
While there are many arguments for and against this practice,
this study sought to examine the underlying rationale for
homework, the various experiences of differing population of
students related to homework and its resulting stress, and
possible alleviating measure to prevent this negative outcomes.
By examining this elements through the lens of activity Theory,
a disconnect between the tools we give students and the
intendent outcome of homework becomes more apparent. Through a
comprehensive review of literature and interview data, the
findings of this study demonstrated a clear need for a
reexamination of the role of homework for educators, and the
need for responsive techniques whenever the practice is
warranted to prevent negative mental health outcomes due to
homework stress. After a full day of learning in class, students
can become burnt out if they have too much homework. When this
happens, the child may suffer completing homework or rely on a
parent to assist with homework. As a result, the benefits of
homework are lost and grades can start to slip. Too much
homework can also result in less active learning, a type of
learning that occurs in context and encourage participation.
Active learning promotes the analysis and application of class
content in real world settings. Homework does not always provide
Republic of the Philippines
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 NUEVA ECIJA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
GABALDON CAMPUS
Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija
LABORATORY HIGH SCHOOL

these opportunities, leading to boredom and a lack of problem-

solving skills. The school serves an exclusively non-white,
working-class student population who demonstrates the motivation
and potential to attend and graduate from laboratory high-
school. The school’s mission calls for its staff to be guided by
cura personalis, meaning they will care for the whole person;
yet, data show that the school’s students were extremely
stressed out and that much of their stress was attributable to
homework. This study sought to determine if reducing the amount
of homework could improve students’ mental health while not
negatively impacting academic performance. Across ten
classrooms, teachers reduce the amount of homework they were
assigning by 50% for a period of at least three months with an
aim of reducing students’ self-reported levels of stress by 30%
while maintaining their same academic performance. At the
conclusion of the project, the number of students reporting high
to moderate levels of stress decreased by nearly 30%. The next
step is to expand this pilot from ten classrooms to 20, thus
having every teacher reduce the homework they are assigning to
more effectively measure the impact it has on both student’s
mental health and their academic performance. The project this
year indicated that reducing homework school-wide would relieve
a significant amount of stress for St. Patrick’s students while
ensuring their academic performance remains steady. A
considerable Number of foreign language learners experience a
feeling of anxiety in language learning process. The purpose of
this research was to find out foreign language anxiety levels of
students studying in faculty of English language and literature
at Cumhuriyet university, Sivas, turkey when they were in
preparatory class and were in fourth grade. Furthermore, it was
aimed to examine whether gender factor was effective on foreign
language anxiety of students. The research was carried out on 98
students (57 female) continuing from preparatory class to fourth
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 NUEVA ECIJA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
GABALDON CAMPUS
Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija
LABORATORY HIGH SCHOOL

grade and taking part in the first and second phases of the
study voluntarily. Research gate were collected through Foreign
Language Classroom Anxiety Scale. Although foreign Language
anxiety levels of the students were found at moderate level both
in preparatory class and in fourth grade, students had slightly
higher anxiety level in fourth grade than they had in
preparatory.

The entrance of the university marks a period of

transition for young people. Through this transition, students
face new challenges, such as making independent decisions about
their lives and studies, adjusting to the academic demands of an
ill-structured learning environment, and interacting with a
diverse range of new people. In addition, many students must,
often for the first time, leave their homes and distance
themselves from their support networks (clearly et al.,2011).
These challenges can affect the mental health and well-being of
higher education students. Indeed, there is evidence that
astrain on mental health is placed on students once they start
at the university, and although it decreases throughout their
studies (Macaskill 2013, Mey and Yin, 2015), it does not return
to pre-university levels. Also, the probabilities of
experiencing common psychological problems, such as depressions,
anxiety, and stress, increase throughout adolescence and reach a
peak in early adulthood around age 25 which makes university
students a particularly vulnerable population. The interest in
mental health and well-being in university students has grown
exponentially in the last decades. This is likely due to three
interrelated challenges. First, although university students
report levels of mental health similar to their non-university
counterparts (Blanco et al.,2008), recent studies suggest an
increase and severity of mental problems and help-seeking
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 NUEVA ECIJA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
GABALDON CAMPUS
Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija
LABORATORY HIGH SCHOOL

behaviors in university students around the world in the last

decade. Some researchers refer to these trends as an emerging
“Mental health crisis” in higher education (Kadison and
DiGeronimo, 2004; Evans et al., 2018). Second, Psychology
distress in early adulthood is associated with adverse short-
term outcomes, such as poor college attendance, performance,
engagement and completion (e.g., King et al., 2006; Antaramian,
2015), and others in the long term, such as dysfunctional
relationship (Kerr and Capaldi, 2011), recurrent mental health
problems, university dropout, lower rates of employment, and
reduced personal income (Fergusson et al., 2007). Homework can
affect student’s health, social life and grades. The hours
logged in class, and the hours logged on schoolwork can lead to
students feeling overwhelmed and unmotivated. Navigating the
line between developing learning skills and feeling frustrated
can be tricky. Homework is an important part of being successful
inside ang outside of the classroom, but too much of it can
actually have the opposite effect. Students who spend too much
time on homework are not always able to meet other needs, like
being physically and socially active. Ultimately, the amount of
homework a student has can impact a lot more than his pr her
grades.

Homework-induced stress on students is far-reaching and

involve both psychology and physiological side effects. The
pressure to perform academically and meet homework expectations
can lead to heightened levels of anxiety in students. Constant
worry about completing assignments in time and achieving high
grades can be overwhelming. Homework-related stress can disrupt
students’ sleep patterns, leading to sleep anxiety or sleep

Republic of the Philippines

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 NUEVA ECIJA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
GABALDON CAMPUS
Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija
LABORATORY HIGH SCHOOL

deprivation, both of which can negatively impact cognitive

function and emotional regulation. Excessive homework demands
can drain students’ motivation, causing them to feel fatigued
and disengaged from their studies, Reduced motivation may lead
to a lock of interest in learning, hindering overall academic
performance. Prolonged stress from overwhelming homework loads
can weaken the immune system, making students more susceptible
to illness and infections. The body’s stress response triggers
the release of hormones like cortisol, which, when chronically
elevated due to stress, can disrupt the delicate hormonal
balance and lead to various health issues. Stress has been known
to affect the gastrointestinal system, leading to symptoms such
as stomachaches, nausea, and other digestive problem. The
increased heart rate and elevated blood pressure associated with
stress can strain the cardiovascular system, potentially
increasing the risk of heart-related issues in the long run.
When facing academic stress, adolescents and young adults are
more likely to develop anxiety or depression. They also
experience less well-being and tend to do poorly in school. When
given a better academic situation, or academic support, research
suggest that students experience improved mental health. Some
kids who do really well in a subject may worry that their work
“won’t be good enough”. Trouble managing emotions; for kids who
easily get flooded by emotions, homework can be a trigger for
anxiety. Too much homework; Sometimes kids are anxious because
they have more work than they can handle.

Homework has become a matter of concern for educators,

parents, and researchers due to its potential effects on
students’ stress levels, it’s no secret that students often find
themselves grappling with high levels of stress and anxiety

Republic of the Philippines

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 NUEVA ECIJA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
GABALDON CAMPUS
Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija
LABORATORY HIGH SCHOOL

throughout their academic careers, so understanding the extent

to which homework affects those stress levels is important.
Sometimes kids just don’t want to do homework. They complain,
procrastinate, or rush through the work so they can do something
fun. But for other kids, it’s not so simple. Homework may
actually give them anxiety. It’s not always easy to know when
kids have homework anxiety. Some kids may share what they’re
feeling when you ask. But others can’t yet identify what they’re
not wiling to talk about it. Homework anxiety often starts in
early grade school. It can affect any child. But it’s an
especially big issue for kids who are struggling in school. They
may think they can’t to do work. Or they may not have the right
support to get it done.

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