THE IMPACT OF STRESS IN THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF THE

SELECTED SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN BSU-ARASOF

An Action Research
Presented to
The Faculty of College of Teacher education
BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Nasugbu, Batangas

In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the subject
English for Academic and Professional Purposes

DELA VEGA, Mark Rendel M.

BUTIONG, Micah B.
CALINAWAN, Liezl M.
CODIZAL, Janine P.
GOMEZ, Liz B.
GUEVARRA, Jana Irish G.
HERNANDEZ, Jen Arel
IGANA, Franchesca S
MENDOZA, Rainne M.
VALDEZ, Paulene C.

December 2019
 ABSTRACT

Title : The Impact of Stress in the Academic Performance of the Selected Senior
High School Students
Researcher : DELA VEGA, Mark Rendel M.
BUTIONG, Micah B.
CALINAWAN, Liezl M.
CODIZAL, Janine P.
GOMEZ, Liz B.
GUEVARRA, Jana Irish G.
HERNANDEZ, Jen Arel
IGANA, Franchesca S
MENDOZA, Rainne M.
VALDEZ, Paulene C.
Subject : English for Academic and Professional Purposes
Year : 2019
Adviser : Ms. Mary Hazel E. Ruales

Summary

This study aimed to help Senior High school students to reduce their stress in their

academic performance by managing their time. Hence, the respondent in this study consist of one

female student from Senior High school student of BSU-ARASOF. The researcher used survey

questionnaire and pre-test to determine how stress affect their academic performance. Four

research questions guided the study. There are (1) The demographic profile of the respondent, (2)

What causes students stress, (3) What are the implications of stress in regard to the students

academic performance, (4) How are the students able to manage their stress. The results of the

study clearly show that stress can affect academic performance of the students. This also shows

that having not enough time for doing certain task can cause them stress.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

TITLE PAGE.............................................................................................................. i

TABLE OF CONTENTS.............................................................................................ii

CHAPTER

I. INTRODUCTION

Situational Analysis.......................................................................................1

Statement of the Problem...............................................................................3

Objective of the Study....................................................................................3

Importance of the Study.................................................................................4

II. METHODOLOGY

Locale and Time of the Study........................................................................5

The Subject.....................................................................................................5

Data Collection...............................................................................................6

Data Analysis..................................................................................................6

III. RESULTS & DISCUSSION

Pre-Intervention...............................................................................................7

Intervention......................................................................................................8

Post-Intervention............................................................................................10

Implication.....................................................................................................10

IV. CONCLUSION

Recommendation............................................................................................12
Acknowledgement.......................................................................................13

References...................................................................................................14

Appendices..................................................................................................16
 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Situational Analysis

Stress is a normal reaction of a body when sudden changes occur. This reaction can affect

you physically, emotionally and mentally. You can experience stress from your environment, your

body and your thoughts. Most of the time people think that the main cause of stress is because of

a negative situation but positive life changes like mortgage, promotion or the birth of a child can

also produce stress.

Stress can actually be positive, it can keep us alert, motivated, and ready to avoid danger.

It is because the human body is designed to experience stress and react to it. The reason why a

negative stress reaction occurs or what we call as distress is because of the continuous challenges

without relaxation between stressor that people continuously experience. When this situation

happens, people start to become overworked and stress related tension builds. Physical problem

such as headaches, dizziness, general aches and pains, grinding teeth or clenched jaw, indigestion

or acid reflux, increase in or loss of appetite, muscle tension, racing heart, cold and sweaty palms,

weight gain or lose, an upset stomach or diarrhea, elevated blood pressure, chest pain, sexual

dysfunction and sleeping problems are all symptoms of distress. Distress can also affect a person

emotionally, common symptoms of this are depression, panic attack, or other forms of anxiety,

feeling of tiredness or exhaustion and worry.

On the other hand, people can also learn how to manage stress and lead to happier and

healthier lives. If you want to reduce stress, start from keeping a positive attitude. Yes, it is hard

to do it especially if a person is experiencing problems continuously. But if you admit that there
are events that you cannot control, it will be easy for you to start keeping a positive attitude.

Second, be assertive instead of being aggressive. Assert your feelings, opinions beliefs instead of

becoming angry, defensive or passive. Third, learn and practice relaxation techniques like

meditation yoga or tai-chi. Meditation is the easiest thing to do because you can do it anywhere

for as long as the place is quiet; it will help you clear your mind. If you do not have time you can

also try breathing deeply and slowly. Fourth, try to exercise daily and eat healthy and well-

balanced food staying fit can help your body fight stress more. Fifth, time management; learn to

manage your time effectively. Sixth, set limits appropriately and say no to request that would create

excessive stress in your life. Seventh, make time for hobbies and interest; this will help you divert

your mind from too much work and it can also help you relaxed at the same time. Eight, get enough

rest sleep; your body needs time to recover from stressful events. Ninth, do not rely on alcohol,

drugs or compulsive behaviors to reduce stress. Tenth, seek out social support, spend quality time

with your loved ones to regain emotional strength and to give you an inspiration. Lastly, seek

treatment with a psychologist or other mental health professional trained in stress management to

learn more healthy ways of dealing with stress in your life.

Statement of the Problem

The study aimed to assess the different impacts of stress in the academic

performance of Senior High School Students in Batangas State University-ARASOF. It

focuses on the negative drawbacks towards students behavior and physical, mental and

emotional state of being.

Specifically, this study sought to answer the following questions

1. Demographic Profile

1.1 Age

1.2 Sex

1.3 Grade Level

1.4 Academic Track

2. What causes your stress?

3. What are the implications of stress in regards to your academic performance?

4. How are you able to manage your stress?

Objectives of the Study

The purpose of this study is to determine Batangas State University-ARASOF’s

Senior High School students’ stress coping behaviors and perception of stress-effects

holistically (emotionally, mentally, and physically). The aim of this research is to discover

the negative and positive impacts of stress to the academic performance of certain Senior
 High School students within the campus. After knowing, the study will provide

intervention on how to prevent stress.

Importance of the Study

This research study will educate not only students but also everyone especially parents.

Both of them will know how stress affects students. Students are aware that being a student is

stressful, that there are factors that they are affected specially in academics. This research will

inform parents that students normally face stress, and there are negative and positive impacts of it.

It will help in the way that parents will know how to guide their children when they are stressed

and because this research also discussed about coping stress, lot of students may apply these things

on their real life.

 CHAPTER II

METHODOLOGY

Locale and Time of the Study

The school that the researchers have chosen is the school where they are assigned. This

school is having the name of Batangas State University-ARASOF Nasugbu Campus that is located

in Barangay Bucana, Nasugbu, Batangas. It is headed by the university President Mr. Enrico M.

Dalangin. The said school can be considered as a large school since it consist of a large population

of students. 144 students in the Senior High School to be exact.

The Subject

The researchers chose one female student from the Senior High school of Batangas State

University-ARASOF under the Accountancy, Business and Management strand. She’s a 17-year

old ABM student who is one of the students that are experiencing school stress for certain reasons.

Her name is being disclosed for confidentiality purposes.

Data Collection

The main tools used was survey questionnaire and the pretest. The said instruments were

administered to the subject of the study. Both tools mentioned have been used by previous studies

in the conduct of their research which yielded dependable results. Aside from its applicability to

the current study, the researchers employed these tools as main instruments in collecting data.

Construction of the Questionnaire. The researchers conducted a thorough study of the topic and

did a purposive and extensive Internet and library research to obtain the information to be used in

the questionnaire.
Validation of the Questionnaire. The researchers assessed the effectiveness of the questionnaire

considering the research problem and subject of the study (profile and characteristics) before all

the corrections and revisions are incorporated.

Administration. The researcher themselves administered the questionnaire to the subject of this

study. The respondent was given a whole day to answer the questionnaire truthfully and sincerely.

After the given time, the researchers gathered the questionnaire.

Scoring. The questionnaire encompasses the variables related to stress management in order to

enable the researchers to assess the nature of stress of the subject and to give a solution on how to

cope with it.

Data Analysis

The data shows that the factors that causes stress to the subject are derived from external

stressors such as school, family, and the likes. The subject's physical, intellectual and emotional

state was affected by being unable to manage her stress. Despite of that circumstance, the subject

was able to manage her stress and has improved her behavior and developed her skills (during and

after the intervention).

 CHAPTER III

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The action research intervention involved gathering the data over the course of a two –

week. In keeping with an action research approach, the data took a number of forms. It includes

questionnaire, schedule which involves the time management of the student and detailed notes

which involves the recorded findings throughout the intervention.

Pre-Intervention

Stress is a feeling that people have when they are overloaded with works or thoughts that

struggling them to cope up with. It is the body’s reaction to any change that requires an adjustment

or response (Cleveland Clinic). Stress is a normal part of our life and we can experience this from

our school, offices, relationships, our bodies, and even from our thoughts. And nowadays, students

feel this often because of tons of school works and other activities. Stress can sometimes be

positive because it can make us feel alert, motivated and ready to avoid danger. It only becomes

negative when a person continuously feel stressed without having a break or at least a breath from

that stress. In result of this, people becomes overworked, and can cause many serious health

problem like anxiety, heart disease, heart attacks, stroke, etc. The human body’s autonomic

nervous system has a built-in stress response that causes physiological changes that allow the body

to be aware or to fight with the stress. This is where the “fight-or-flight” mechanism comes. It tells

us when and how we are going to respond with danger or stress.

A stressed person may experience different feelings such as anxiety, sadness, fear, anger,

and frustration. Some stressors that can make a person feel like there is nothing she/he can do

about it, and cannot see the light and hope of getting over it may lead to depression. According to
the American Psychological Association or APA, the average stress level of adults in the United

States in 2015 was 5.1 on a scale of 1-10.

A questionnaire was made in order to gather data from a certain respondent which

experiences stress. The questionnaire focuses on the topic stress management which includes

questions related to it. The demographic profile of the respondent was asked to determine whether

there is a significant relationship between the profiles given.

Whilst-Intervention

On the first day of the intervention, the respondent was asked to come to school early for

the flag ceremony. She was asked whether she has eaten yet, slept well and was in a good condition

for attending the school. She was examined and observed for the whole day in order to utilize a

more efficient intervention to be taken course of. At the end of the day, the researchers was able

to generate enough data and information to be able to create the course of action/intervention to

be carried. The intervention involves facilitating the mood of the respondent every after the subject,

establishing a schedule for time management and maintaining a smooth flow of conversation at

the end of every day.

The facilitation on the mood of the respondent every after the subject was carried on at the

start of the second day. It was observed that on the start of the second day, the student was doing

well. She was able to participate well in class. However, as the day was close to its end, she was

feeling a bit tired. The next day was almost the same as the other although she was somehow

feeling good because she can talk to someone who was willing to listen. Days passed and it seems
that facilitating the mood of the respondent every after the subject was helpful in terms of making

her feel more relaxed and calm.

The establishment of a schedule for time management was carried on at the start of the

second day. The schedule was based on the schedule of her daily classes. The schedule is made

like this:

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

TABLE 3.1 Schedule for Time Management

This schedule was made in order to help the student in allocating her time properly. It

involves the leisure time, the study time, the sleeping hours and the meal time.

Maintaining a smooth flow of conversation at the end of the day was carried on at the start

of the second day. This is associated with the first intervention which is the facilitation of the mood

of the respondent every after the subject. This intervention enabled the researchers to understand

and facilitate the well-being of the student every day.

Post-Intervention

Stress management became a major problem when it comes to the welfare and well-being

of the students. It must be given importance because it greatly affects the behavior of the students

and their state of mind. After the intervention, it is evident that the respondent has changed. Though

sometimes she can still be seen stressed, it is not how stressed she is before than now. We have

also observed that she became productive and more energetic. She has also learned planning ahead.

In that way, she won’t feel overloaded with work and can finish or complete a project without

worrying about the last minute details. The respondent learned how to adapt to the stressors that

she is facing. She tries to view the problem on its positive side and take a moment to reflect or

think of the proper ways on how she can overcome it. But, she has kept in her mind that there are

things that she cannot change. There are moments that she has just to go with the flow and she

can’t control the uncontrollable. All in all, we think that the intervention that we have executed is

successful because we achieved the result that we want to.

Implications

The intervention provides an in-depth look towards the attainment of better understanding. The

intervention’s implication towards the respondent is that she experienced stress but is now able

to manage it little by little. This means that by every little thing that we do, we can constitute to

the development of our own well-being. We realized that being able to manage stress can

provide a peaceful and relaxed manner of behaving and thinking. Being a stress-free person can

be a start of our happiness because we doesn’t have burdens to carry.

 CHAPTER IV

CONCLUSION

From the findings, study clearly show that stress has an impact when it comes to the

academic performance of the students particularly the Senior High School Students in the Batangas

State University-ARASOF Nasugbu. The study shows that a student can’t give his or her best in

doing his or her school works because of stress. On the other hand, the subject were able to cope

or manage her stress by listening to music, sleeping, going to beach, praying and overthinking.

It is observed that also due to not having enough time to do a certain task and because the

subject lack time managament the intervention for the subject is to have a time management so her

stress will be lessen and her school works will not be piled up.

Stress is a basic thing of everyday life and there is no way to escape. Stress today can be

decribed as “that which disturbs a person’s mental and physical well-being”. Psychologists

describe stress as tension experienced on individual over a period of time which spoils the aptitude

of the singular to accomplish his part. The cause of stress may affect every individuals as it

comprises many factors, may it be from tons of schoolwork, their family’s expectation, does not

have enought time to do the task, having chronic illness or injury and many more. Although as

mentioned in the factors above, stress is something that is inevitable, but it can be controlled.
 RECOMMENDATIONS

Students has lots of things to do especially in their school works. Here, we focus on how

and what the students can do to improve their school performance and cope with their stress. They

got frustrated when they are doing projects, assignments and activities on different subjects with

close dates of deadlines and also school participations such as oral recitations and performances.

Sometimes, it is also because of personal problems that they are encountering every day. In order

to avoid stress students should learn how to manage and use their time properly. This action could

less the stress they may feel. Those school works would be lessened if the students can provide

time to do that. Organizing schedules can also help the students to know the things that they should

do throughout the day and prepare their selves on the activity that they will do.

Second, to avoid stress in school, after doing some school works, give yourself time to

relax and enjoy. Do your stress reliever and take some rest. This could help the students because

it may lessen the negative things that they think. It can refresh their mind and start new things to

do. This can also help their mind to be productive.

Give yourself a positive vibe and do things with confidence. Stress is from negative things

that we think and from the failures that we always remember so, the students should think that

failure is a lesson we should take to improve ourselves. This kind of mindset could avoid stress

and also breakdowns to students. Lastly, being a student is a part of our lives so just enjoy every

moment and do all of the things that students do with passion. This could prevent the students from

stress because they are learning and at the same time enjoying.
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This paper and the research behind would not have been possible without the support of

these people.

First and foremost, we would like to express our special appreciation and thanks to our

action research adviser Ms. Mary Hazel Ruales, you have been a tremendous mentor for us. We

would like to thank you for encouraging our action research and for allowing us to grow as an

action research scientists. Your advice on both research as well as on our studies have been

invaluable.

We would also like to thank our only respondent. Her name cannot be disclosed, but we

want to acknowledge and appreciate her help and transparency during our action research. Her

information has helped us to complete this action research.

We would like to acknowledge Batangas State University ARASOF-Nasugbu for

supporting our action research study.

We would like to express our sincere thanks to Ms. Lorenjane E. Balan, principal of

Laboratory School, for her constant encouragement.

We are extremely grateful to our parents and friends for their love, prayers, caring and

sacrifices for educating and preparing us for our future.

Finally, we would like to thank ALMIGHTY GOD for giving us the strength, knowledge,

ability and opportunity to undertake this action research study and to persevere and complete it

satisfactorily. Without his blessings, this achievement would have not been possible.

To God be the Glory.

 REFERENCES

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/11874-stress
https://www.bartleby.com/The-Importance-of-Stress-Management-FKCHVQYVC
https://www.helpguide.org/articles/stress/stress-management.htm
APPENDIX
 APPENDIX AS

Survey Questionnaire

Batangas State University

ARASOF – Nasugbu
Nasugbu, Batangas

College of Teacher Education

Good day!

We are conducting a survey that is primarily related to our research study. These survey

questionnaires are related to the research study that will be conducted by some BSU ARASOF

Senior High School students, which is about Stress Management, The Impact of Stress in the

Academic Performance of Selected Senior High School Students in BSU-ARASOF,

specifically. We ask for your participation in our study by answering the following questions.

Thank you!

Reseacrchers:

DELA VEGA, Mark Rendel M. GUEVARRA, Jana Irish G.

BUTIONG, Micah B. HERNANDEZ, Jen Arel
CALINAWAN, Liezl M. IGANA, Franchesca S
CODIZAL, Janine P. MENDOZA, Rainne M.
GOMEZ, Liz B. VALDEZ, Paulene

Name: _____________________ Grade Level: Grade 11

Age: ____________________ Grade 12

Sex: Academic Track: ABM

 F M STEM

DIRECTION : Read the following questions and answer the questions truthfully.

1. Are you stressed?

Yes
No

2. If yes, what are the causes of your stress?

Schoolworks
Family’s expectation
Doesn’t have enough time to do the task
Chronic illness or injury
If others, please specify: _______________________

3. What are the implications of stress with respect to your academic performance?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

4. How are you able to manage your stress?

Listen to music
Sleep
Eat
Go to the beach
Pray
Overthink
Does nothing at all
If others, please specify: _______________________

5. What are your behavior when you are stress?

Overthink
Crying
Unnecessary movement
Stress eating
If others, please specify: _______________________

Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey.