Coping Strategies and Academic Performance and Self-Esteem

of Criminology Students in Selected HEI`s in CAVITE during the

pandemic

Delos Reyes, Roy Ivan V.

2022
 Introduction

It is in fact a devastating event that shocked the world when the Corona Virus

has spread, it has affected millions of people and destroyed the normal routine of a

person, one major industry affected is the education system. From the traditional setup

of students going to classrooms was mandatorily prohibit to stopped the spread of the

disease. Major transition happened in most of the educational institution to adopt to the

situation. With this transition students experience adjustment in the new method of

learning dealing with different issues that may affect the delivery of education. A study

found that Covid-19 has a considerable detrimental influence on college students'

mental health and encourages proactive actions to promote their mental health and

well-being. (Kecojevic, 2020). The pandemic has caused an increased negative emotion

on the students such as anxiety, fear, anger, or sadness and reduces person`s well-

being. (Allodola, 2020)

According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural

Organization, (UNESCO) over 800 million pupils worldwide have been affected, one in

every five students cannot attend school, one in every four students cannot attend

higher education classes, and over 102 countries have ordered nationwide school

closures, while 11 have implemented localized school closures. Although school

closures are necessary to control the spread of the virus, they can also stifle already low

levels of education. A rise in dropout rates and a rise in levels Families are relieved of

the load of learning as a result of distance learning initiatives making the learning results

of pupils a result of their home surroundings and parental support. Furthermore,

Susceptible pupils might become vulnerable if they do not have a structured school
routine and their families are stressed financially. disengaged from their schooling for

life. (OECD, 2020)

An answer to the current scenario wherein students suffers from difficulties in

terms of mental stability wherein schools have a critical role, not only in delivering

educational materials to children, but in offering an opportunity for students to interact

with teachers and obtain psychological counselling. Schools can actively promote a

health-conscious schedule, good personal hygiene, encourage physical activities,

appropriate diet, and good sleep habits, and integrate such health promotion materials

into the school curriculum(Wang, Zhang, Zhao, Zhan, & Jiang, 2020).

The Philippines is one of the five countries in the world that have not started in-

person classes since the pandemic began, affecting the right to learn of more than 27

million Filipino students. Such restrictions resulted that College students experience

moderate levels of fatigue during the mandatory lockdown period. (Labrague,2021)

Since students value greater social connectedness and highly engage in social

activities, they are heavily affected by the lockdown or home confinement measures

during the pandemic. This may result in loss of connection to their peers and friends,

increased social isolation, emotional loneliness, leading to increased risk of fatigue and

other mental health problems.

Common issues with transition are its effect to mental health of a person proving

that coping mechanisms are essential. (Al-Hasan A. 2020). Mental health is a

phenomenon that psychologists, medical specialists, and religious scholars have

studied, and it is the result of a mix of physical, social, and cognitive elements. (E.

Razaei Ghacheli. 2020) suggested that administration of coping skills is a good method
in reducing mental disorder symptoms among students. As we experience the change

in classroom setup, a lot of students suffered from extreme anxiety. Loneliness among

students was high during the coronavirus pandemic. Resilience, coping behaviors, and

social support were identified as protective factors against loneliness. (Labrague 2021).

This present study is formulated to conduct examination on the coping strategies

of the criminology student`s in selected higher education institution and its relationship

with their academic performance and self-esteem. This study will attempt to determine

the level of coping mechanisms utilized by the students and how it affected their

intellectual capability. The formulated research question seeks to provide essential

information to guide the researcher in coming up with appropriate strategies to help

understand students and suggest programs that will address the needs of students in

order to properly cope up and improve their mental health. This research can be applied

to students and professionals in the field of criminal justice education as well as

professionals in psychology which aims to understand the coping mechanisms of

criminology students.

Criminology Students. The student`s mental health is arguably one of the most

sensitive topics discussed during the time of pandemic, for some reasons, students

don`t have the capability to asses their mental health as well as their coping

mechanisms to address the problem. With the utilization of this study, the criminology

students may access their self and find an effective and efficient way to cope up with

the problems they may be encountering allowing them to have a more stable mental

and intellectual capability in endeavoring the challenges of pandemic in their academic

career.
 Professionals in Criminal Justice Education. The instructors handling online

classes of students may use the result of this study as basis on formulating programs

that will help students overcome problems as well as adjust themselves to provide

coping strategies to students.

Future Researchers. The research addresses the present situation wherein the

respondents suffers the effect of pandemic, the creation of this research will help future

researchers to conduct studies relating to the different factors that could affect the

academic performance of students and formulate programs that could find solutions in

making them better.

Theoretical Framework

There are several factors which affect the academic performance of students,

these factors may improve the academic performance of students and some are

detrimental to their academic construction. The Pandemic has further accelerated the

shift and necessity of transitioning to online-distant learning as the government ordered

suspension in the conduct of traditional face-to-face classes in which resulted to stress

and academic burnout. Burnout is defined as the end state of long-term chronic stress

(Maslach, 2003) and due to burnout, the tendency of an individual to become more

productive and efficient is significantly reduced thus finding a way to cope up with the

different kinds of stress is important. (Deklava 2020). These changes have proved that

individual could suffer from stress, and stress inevitable, while you can’t remove every

single stressor from your life, it’s possible to manage stress and maintain your health.

This is important because stress can cause mental fatigue, irritability, and insomnia.

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) theory was developed by Hans Selye, according
to him, physiological changes are typical response to stress and that these responses

will help you cope up with stress. (T. Legg, 2018). Adaptability is defined as appropriate

cognitive, behavioral and/or affective adjustment in the face of uncertainty and novelty

(Martin, Nejad, Colmar, & Liem, 2013). Adaptability seeks to articulate concepts that

reflect young people’s adaptive regulation in the face of challenge, difficulty, change, or

novelty. (Martin, Andrew 2012). The role of adaptability determines the academic

outcomes which is determined by the coping mechanisms of the students and their

academic performance. A study conducted to determine student’s academic

performance showed that students are able to adjust and counterbalance the missing

elements of face-to-face instructions during then pandemic. (Syed,2021).

Coping skills refers to techniques and tools used to help handle emotions in a

positive manner. (Duprey, 2018). He also added that mindfulness also improves

psychological health, helps in regulating emotions, and increases relationship between

stress and depression. In relation to this, students who found transitioning to online

difficult resulted from lower academic performance (Chisadza, 2021).

Coping strategies are the thoughts and behaviors used to manage the internal

and external demands of a stressful situation (Stephenson, E., DeLongis, A. 2020).

There are two kinds of coping, it can be either adaptive or maladaptive coping. Adaptive

coping reduces the impact of the stressful situation while also potentially strengthening

family resilience. Maladaptive coping can increase stress and challenge the mental and

physical health of individual family members and the family system. (Peer, 2016).
Statement of the Problem

For the current scenario, a lot of studies have been conducted to asses the

academic performance of the students, but the factors affecting it was merely touched

nor tackled. The researcher aims to close the gap between previous and current studies

and it aims to prioritize the coping strategies, academic performance and self-esteem of

criminology students in selected HEI`s in the province of Cavite.

This study aims to answer the following questions:

1. What are the coping strategies of Criminology Students in terms of:

a) Problem Focused Engagement
b) Emotion Focused Engagement
c) Problem Focused Disengagement
d) Emotion Focused Disengagement
2. What is the level of academic performance of Criminology Students?

3. What is the level of self-esteem Criminology Students?

4. What is the significant relationship among the coping strategies, academic

performance and self-esteem of Criminology Students?

Hypotheses of the Study

1. There is no significant relationship between coping strategies, academic

performance and self-esteem of Criminology students in selected HEI`s in

Cavite.

2. There is a significant relationship between coping strategies, academic

performance and self-esteem of Criminology students in selected HEI`s in

Cavite.
Scope and Limitation of Study

This study was designed to assess the coping strategies and academic

performance and self-esteem of Criminology Student in selected HEI`s in Cavite. With

this, the study will cover the profile of the Criminology students, such as their gender,

age, and year level, and it is also intended to determine the correlation between coping

strategies, academic performance and self-esteem of the students.

Methodology

Research Design

This study is a quantitative research wherein it is a method that emphasizes

gathering numerical data and take a broad view of it across groups of people or to

describe a certain phenomenon. A correlational research design is going to be used to

address the above-mentioned research questions to seek for the significant relationship

between the identified variables, correlational research design is used to determine the

extent of relationship of two or more variables that are related among a single group of

people without manipulating the variables. This research design will be used in order for

the researchers to know the relationship of coping strategies, academic performance

and self-esteem among criminology students in the selected HEI`s in Cavite.

Population and Sampling

The study used purposive sampling technique in selecting criminology students

of the Higher Education Institution in the province of Cavite.

Research Instrument

For the data needed in this study, the researcher adopted series of standard

questionnaire in identifying coping strategies and self-esteem of students, the

researcher also adopted a questionnaire that will gather the academic performance of

the respondents. The instrument is divided into four parts, the first part collets the profile

of the respondents, the second and third gathers the coping strategies and self-esteem

of students. The fourth part contains the academic performance of the respondents.

Data Gathering Procedure

In getting the data needed in the study, the researcher will seek permission from

the deans or heads of the different Higher Education Institution, upon approval, the

researcher will ask for virtual meet and sent google forms during the meeting so that

any query will be properly addressed.

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Research Instrument

Coping Strategies Inventory

Once again, take a few minutes to think about your chosen event
As you read through the following items please answer them based on how you handled
your event

Please read each item below and determine the extent to which you used it in
handling your chosen event. Please do not mark on this inventory. Please use the
provided answer sheet in the following manner
a. Not at all
b. A Little
c. Somewhat
d. Much
e. Very much

1.I just concentrated on what I had to do next; the next step.

2.I tried to get a new angle on the situation.
3.I found ways to blow off steam.
4.I accepted sympathy and understanding from someone.
5.I slept more than usual.
6.I hoped the problem would take care of itself.
7.I told myself that if I wasn't so careless, things like this wouldn't happen.
8.I tried to keep my feelings to myself.
9.I changed something so that things would turn out all right.
10.I looked for the silver lining, so to speak; tried to look on the bright side of things.
11.I did some things to get it out of my system.
12.I found somebody who was a good listener.
13.I went along as if nothing were happening.
14.I hoped a miracle would happen.
15.I realized that I brought the problem on myself.
16.I spent more time alone.
17.I stood my ground and fought for what I wanted.
18.I told myself things that helped me feel better.
19.I let my emotions go. '
20.I talked to someone about how I was feeling.
21.I tried to forget the whole thing.
22.I wished that I never let myself get involved with that situation.
23.I blamed myself.
24.I avoided my family and friends.
25.I made a plan of action and followed it.
26.I looked at things in a different light and tried to make the best of what was available.
27.I let out my feelings to reduce the stress.
28.I just spent more time with people I liked.
29.I didn't let it get to me; 1 refused to think about it too much.
30.I wished that the situation would go away or somehow be over with.
31.I criticized myself for what happened.
32.I avoided being with people.
33.I tackled the problem head-on.
34.I asked myself what was really important, and discovered that things weren't so bad
after all.
35.I let my feelings out somehow.
36.I talked to someone that I was very close to.
37.I decided that it was really someone else's problem and not mine.
38.I wished that the situation had never started.
39.Since what happened was my fault, I really chewed myself out. .
40.I didn't talk to other people about the problem.
41.I knew what had to be done, so I doubled my efforts and tried harder to make things
work.
42.I convinced myself that things aren't quite as bad as they seem.
43.I let my emotions out.
44.I let my friends help out.
45.I avoided the person who was causing the trouble.
46.I had fantasies or wishes about how things might turn out.
47.I realized that I was personally responsible for my difficulties and really lectured
myself.
48.I spent some time by myself.
49.It was a tricky problem, so 1 had to work around the edges to make things come out
okay.
50.I stepped back from the situation and put things into perspective.
51.My feelings were overwhelming and they just exploded.
52.I asked a friend or relative I respect for advice.
53.I made light of the situation and refused to get too serious about it.
54.I hoped that if I waited long enough, things would turn out OK.
55.I kicked myself for letting this happen.
56.I kept my thoughts and feelings to myself.
57.I worked on solving the problems in the situation.
58.I reorganized the way I looked at the situation, so things didn't look so bad.
59.I got in touch with my feelings and just let them go.
60.I spent some time with my friends.
61.Every time I thought about it I got upset; so I just stopped thinking about it.
62.I wished I could have changed what happened.
63.1t was my mistake and I needed to suffer the consequences.
64.I didn't let my family and friends know what was going on.
65.I struggled to resolve the problem.
66.I went over the problem again and again in my mind and finally saw things in a
different light.
67.I was angry and really blew up.
68.I talked to someone who was in a similar situation.
69.I avoided thinking or doing anything about the situation.
70.I thought about fantastic or unreal things that made me feel better.
71.I told myself how stupid I was.
72.I did not let others know how I was feeling

ROSENBERG SELF-ESTEEM SCALE

On the following questions please mark one of the answers as most closely representing
your own feeling. Remember, there are no right or wrong answers, only what you think.
Statement Strongly Agree Disagree Strongly
Agree Disagree
1. I feel that I am a person of
worth, at least on an equal
plane with others
2. I feel that I have a number
of good qualities.
3. All in all, I am inclined to
feel that I am a failure.
4. I am able to do things as
well as most other people.
5. I feel I do not have much to
be proud of.
6. I take a positive attitude
toward myself.
7. On the whole, I am satisfied
with myself.
8. I wish I could have more
respect for myself.
9.I certainly feel useless at times.

10. At times I think I am no

good at all