THE IMPACT OF DISTANCE LEARNING ON THE MENTAL HEALTH OF GRADE

10 STUDENTS OF SAINT MARY'S ACADEMY IN AGOO, S.Y. 2020-2021

ANGELLA MAE F. GAMBOA

ANGELIKA MAE FATIMA Y. CABALBAG

JOYCE ANN V. DORIA

ALYSSA J. ESTOQUE

JOHANN ANDREW B. FONTAMILLAS

DRAKE LORENZE CEDRIC L. FORONDA

MYNA FRANCHISCA G. NAVARILLO

RALPH C. RETRETA

SHANE MARGARETTE D. VERCELES

ST. MARY’S ACADEMY-AGOO, LA UNION, INC.

SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

CONSOLACION, AGOO, LA UNION

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS

April 2021
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The researchers wish to express their sincerest gratitude to all who knowingly and

unknowingly shared their knowledge and contributed their assistance in making this study

possible. To sincerely give them thanks for their help, the researchers would like to acknowledge

these special people who partook to the study.

Our God, who is the center of all wisdom and strength. To God be all the glory and

honor.

Mr. Christian Jay Mabitazan, Practical Research 1 teacher, for the untiring guidance,

patience, and constructive criticisms with concern to the study.

Mr. Ceasar Gundran, Homeroom Adviser, for giving enough support, encourage and

motivation.

The respondents, for their full cooperation and participation to the study.

The researchers’ family, who always loved and supported them morally and spiritually.

Again, it is a privilege for all your endless support and for your assistance.
 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study/Situation Analysis

Mental health issue among youth is not a new concern. Most of us have perceived this

silent crisis in teenagers wherein at the age of 14, 50% of psychiatric illnesses exist based on the

world mental health survey results from Sorel (2010). Adolescence is a crucial period for

developing and maintaining social and emotional habits that are important for mental well-being

that is why there are numerous factors that influence an individual's mental health outcomes that

were recognized by researchers. However, they are disregarded and untreated. Furthermore, the

more adolescents were exposed to it, the greater its impact on their mental health. The World

Health Organization stated that this occurrence of mental health problems is frequently untreated

and may cause role performance impairment (2014).

An individual who experience mental health disorders shows various symptoms. As

stated by Kroning (2016), being sad, empty, angry, hopeless, frustrated, and irritable indicates

that a person is experiencing mental health disorders. They lost interest or pleasure in almost all

activities and feel fatigued. Their inability to sleep and eat in a balance as well as having

recurrent deaths or suicidal ideation also shows the symptoms of having such a condition. In

addition, the change in their social, occupational, and physical functioning are clinical signs of

impairment (Kroning, 2016).

About 450 million people undergo mental health illnesses wherein one in every four

individuals suffers at some point in their lives (WHO, 2001). In 2015, the global prevalence of

common mental disorders such as depression and anxiety was estimated at 5.5% and 3.6%,
respectively; suicide cases for 1.5% of global deaths (WHO, 2017). WHO (2020) estimated that

10 to 20 percent of adolescents are experiencing such conditions globally.

According to the Department of Health (DOH) in the Philippines, there are 3.3 million

Filipinos who undergo with depressive disorders wherein 2.5 males and 1.7 females per 100,000

persons. From 2000 to 2012, the WHO reported over 2,000 cases of suicide in the country which

involved individuals aging from 15 to 29 years old. Among the youth aged 13 to 17, 11.6% have

contemplated in taking their lives while 16.8% have attempted suicidal acts. These cases of

mental health problems in the Philippines grow at an alarming rate that is why on June 21, 2018,

President Rodrigo Duterte signed the Mental Health Act, the first mental health act legislation in

the Philippines.

Nowadays, mental health is a great issue especially that we are experiencing a pandemic

of Corona Virus 2019. The virus infected a wide range of individuals that made a halt on the

world’s economy. In particular, the educational system of the Philippines constructed an

alternative setup in order to continue the school year and not to sacrifice a year of learning for

students. Distance learning provides a risk on students’ mental health in this uncertain time.

As students adapt to online learning during the pandemic, educational institutions should

construct strategies for actual and potential mental health disorders among students. Being the

primary environment of students during their formal learning years, educational institutions

should not separate the consideration of mental health from physical health. It is because the

body and mind are deeply interrelated. For instance, Schroeder (2020) suggests that 32% who die

from cancer have high levels of self-reported distress. On the other hand, depression is associated

with heart diseases wherein they are life-altering and devastating (Schroeder, 2020).
 High school students are adolescence who is experiencing difficulties on their studies.

They feel pressured and anxious whenever they do things like making decisions in their life.

Between a lack of social and physical connection and all the additional stressors caused by the

pandemic, it is no surprise that the COVID-19 pandemic is taking a toll on students’ mental

health. Attending distance learning is stressful especially when there is an academic pressure on

students. Literature proves that there is a negative effect on the relationship between anxiety and

student achievement in distance learning (Jegede, Alaiyemola, & Okebukola, 1990).

Face-to-face learning and distance learning have a clear distinction in terms of the

environment. Traditional face-to-face teaching in a classroom is in asynchronous mode. Face-to-

face advantages include a fast pace and the possibility for spontaneous oral communication

(Garrison & Kanuka, 2004). In an online environment, courses can be synchronous through the

use of collaborative software where students and a lecturer meet in the virtual space, replicating

the traditional classroom setting.

Though traditional learning has better outcomes on students’ learning and mental health,

online learning will be the best choice we have in this time of pandemic. This is because online

learning would not risk the students’ physical being especially if a virus is lurking outside the

security and comfort of their homes. Nevertheless, even if online learning may serve as a

temporary setup in education, this would not take away the fact that students’ may still suffer

mental illnesses during and after e-learning. There many factors determined in distance

education of poor results and high dropout rate; boring courses, economic complication, lack of

feedback and encouragement, isolation, absence of motivation, dissatisfaction with requirements

or regulations, and changes in career goals (Bernard,2004). The new setup in the educational

system of the Philippines is one of the most vital sources of stress faced by young people. They
have this low satisfaction in academic performance and strong external and internal pressure to

study.

Researchers identified two types of anxiety. Trait anxiety is the propensity of a person to

be stable internally and responds to anxiety. On the other hand, state anxiety is the emotional

state of an individual that changes over time. Other academic-related anxieties have been

recognized, including computer anxiety, research anxiety, statistical anxiety, writing anxiety,

foreign language anxiety, general test anxiety, and math anxiety (Onwuegbuzie, Jiao, & Bostick,

2004). The student's behavior and cognition are greatly affected by mental health illnesses

(Hubert 2009).

Nevertheless, there were self-reported instruments that were constructed to assess

academic stress among youth. These include the Academic Stress Questionnaire (ASQ,

Abouserie, 1994), Student Stress Inventory (SSI, Zeidner, 1992), Academic Stress Scale

(ASS, Kohn & Frazer, 1986), Lakaev Academic Stress Response Scale (LASRS, Lakaev,

2009), Student-life Stress Inventory (SSI, Gadzella, 2001), High School Stressor Scale (HSSS,

Burnett & Fanshawe, 1997), Academic Expectation Stress Inventory (AESI-9, Ang & Huan,

2006a), and Survey of Academic Stress (SAS, Bjorkman, 2007).

The journey to recovery with such is usually represented as subjective and does

not necessarily happen in the therapist’s office but rather within the context of an individual's life

(Borg & Davidson, 2008). An investigation involving service users with severe mental problems

showed that work (Borg & Kristiansen, 2008), meaningful activities (Salzmann-Erikson, 2013),

positive life events (Davidson et al., 2006), and active self-help strategies (Deegan, 2005) may

all be crucial elements in recovery.

Conceptual and Theoretical Framework of the Study

Figure 1 presents the Research Paradigm showing the variables and processes involved.

INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT

1. Mental health of 1. Data analysis of the: 1. Distance learning

students in terms of: a. Level of mental has a negative effect

a. Psychological health issue on students’ mental

b. Emotional b. Factors affecting health

c. Social the mental health

2. Formulation of ways

2. Factors affecting the 2. Determine the or strategies in

level of mental significant coping up with

health issue among relationship mental health issue

students during between the level during distance

distance learning of mental health learning.

issue and the
factors affecting it

FEEDBACK
 Volery and Lord (2000) emphasize that self-learning is an essential aspect of distance

learning. Students must be able to comprehend the demand of allocating enough time for their

studies. With adequate time and self-discipline, learners can plan and organize their study

situation and their study accomplishments will turn out to be successful (Volery & Lord, 2000).

Nevertheless, distance learning has an evident relationship with the mental health status of a

learner. This includes the psychological, emotional, and social aspects of the student.

Goolkasian scrutinizes the psychological aspects of information technology. She

presented the side effects of using information technology that psychologists and therapists have

to face nowadays. These include techno-stress, computer phobia, addiction to computer games,

Internet addiction, hacking, narrowing of the range of interests, autism, the transformation of

identity, lack of development of social intelligence, degradation of the social component in

communication, and others (Goolkasian, 1995). On the other hand, using learners’ monthly

emotion journals and interview strategy, Zembylas (2008) applied a qualitative methodology to

study emotional existence.

This resulted in two broad themes: positive and negative emotions related to learning.

Positive emotions included joy, enthusiasm, and excitement for the flexibility of online learning,

which was higher in intensity and frequency in earlier months; pride and contentment for

attaining the course requirements; and surprise and excitement for the emotional nature of online

communication. Negative emotions included fear and anxiety for the unknown mode of online

learning and its demands such as technology, time management, structure; isolation, and the need

for connectedness, which appears when the students competed to find gratifying ways of

communicating with their classmates and their instructors; and stress and guilt for the inability to

balance multiple roles and responsibilities, which is the most serious obstacle that the students
experienced. They struggled to combine their professional, family, and social life, which made it

hard to cope with the numerous demands of the program (Zembylas, 2008).

The above-mentioned literature presents that there is a correlation between distance

learning and students’ mental health. Moreover, it shows that distance learning is one of the

factors that cause mental health problems. Thus, these contribute to the study in proving that

distance learning and the mental health status of the students have a remarkable relationship.

Additionally, this will exhibit strategies in coping up with mental stressors.

Statement of the Problem

This study aims to know the impact of distance learning to the mental health of grade 10

students and on how they cope up with it.

Specifically, it aims to answer the following questions:

1) As a grade 10 student, what is the relation of distance learning and mental health status

with;

a.) psychological

b.) emotional

c.) social

2) As a grade 10 student, what are your ways and strategies in coping up with mental health

problems while in distance learning?

3) As a grade 10 student, is mental health the main priority in distance learning?

Scope and Delimitation

This study primarily focused on the impact of distance learning on students' mental

health. The facets involved show that distance learning is one of the causes of mental health

conditions. It aims to present the correlation between distance learning and students' mental

health.

The respondents of the study are grade 10 students from Saint Mary’s Academy, Agoo.

The participants were chosen through purposive convenience sampling that is those who are

present in data gathering and who met the established required criteria which are as follows: first,

the respondent must have been a grade 10 student; second, they must be a student of Saint

Mary’s Academy, Agoo. They will be interviewed as data through digital media.

It delimits that the study may not be generalizable to other populations or youth

experiencing mental health issues. This study will be conducted with a limited amount of

financial resources and a time framework.

Significance of the Study

This study makes the researchers evaluate the impact of distance learning on the mental

health of grade 10 students in Saint Mary’s Academy, Agoo.

Benefiting the study are the various sectors as follows:

For the students, the direct recipient of the study's output is the grade 10 students who are

engaged in distance learning. This study will evaluate the academic performance and the

students’ attitude or approach in the quality of care rendered in the given time frame during
distance learning. Data gathered in the study will help the students to improve both academic

performance and mental aspects. Through this, students experiencing mental health conditions

may cope up while participating in distance learning.

For the parents, the research benefits the parents of grade 10 students, especially those

who have a child or children with mental health issues. Through this study, the parents may

discern ways on how to promote awareness in adolescents who are in a mental health crisis.

For the teachers and other faculty staff, this study will be beneficial to the teachers,

particularly to those who are new in their teaching profession. Given that the students rarely open

up to their teachers, the results of the study will help the instructors evaluate the quality of

learning, academic performance, attitude, and skills acquired concerning the students' mental

health. Moreover, they may also determine different ways of teaching that may be conducive

during distance learning.

Definition of Terms

For the convenience of the readers, the following terms have been defined according to

their usage in this study.

a) Mental Health – it regards to a person’s condition in psychological, emotional and social

well- being

b) Mental Health Issues – severe mental health conditions by feelings of despondency and

dejection; it includes: depression, anxiety, stress, et cetera

 CHAPTER 2

METHODOLOGY

This section discusses the research design, participants of the study, data gathering tool

and procedures, and data management used in the study.

Research Design

The design of the study is a case study researh design. According to Rashid et al. (2019),

qualitative case study methodology allows researchers to perform an in-depth investigation of

complex phenomena within some specific context.

Moreover, it is also a survey and correlational research design with a developmental

approach. McCombes (2019) cites that a correlational research design measures the relationship

between two variables without the researcher controlling either of them. It aims to find out

whether there is either: positive correlation, negative correlation, or zero correlation.

Participants of the Study

The respondents of the study are 50 Grade 10 students from any section of Saint Mary's

Academy, Agoo.

The participants were chosen through purposive convenience sampling that is those who are

present in data gathering and who met the established required criteria which are as follows: first,

the respondent must have been a grade 10 student; second, they must be a student of Saint

Mary’s Academy, Agoo for school year 2020 to 2021.

Instrumentation or Data Collection

Before the gathering of data started, the researchers produced survey questions. Upon

completing the questions, the researchers conducted the data gathering procedure through the use

of digital media on students who met the criteria.

The data gathering tool in the study is a self-constructed questionnaire. The researchers

prepared six (6) survey questions. These questions were focused on the topic : The Impact of

Distance Learning on the Mental Health of Grade 10 Students of Saint Mary's Academy in

Agoo, S.Y. 2020-2021. Its validity was evaluated by their subject teacher which was rated as

highly valid.

To determine the level of correlation between the mental health of grade 10 students and

distance learning, the average weighted mean was utilized.

Ethical Considerations

For ethical considerations, the questionnaire and the entire manuscript are subjected to

the scrutinity of Mr. Christian Jay A. Mabitazan. Thereafter, the questionnaire was administered

to the said respondents. In the conduct of this research, the researchers ensured the safety of

collecting the information that shall be properly and appropriately conducted wherein the

respondents involved were asked permissions in sharing their information honestly.

References:

Sorel, E. (2010). Book review: The WHO world mental health surveys: global perspectives on
the epidemiology of mental disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry. P. 167

Kroning, M. and Kroning K. (2016). Teen depression and suicide: a silent crisis. Journal of
Christian Nursing: A Quarterly Publication of Nurses Christian Fellowship. P. 79

Jegede, O. J., Alaiyemola, F. F., and Okebukola, P. A. (1990) The effect of concept mapping on
students' anxiety and achievement in biology. Journal of Research in Science Teaching. P. 27

Garrison, D. R. and Kanuka, H. (2004). Blended Learning: Uncovering its Transformative

Potential in Higher Education. The internet and higher education. P. 7

Bernard, B. (2004). Resiliency: what we have learned. San Francisco, CA: WestEd Regional
Educational Laboratory.

Zembylas, M. (2008). Adult learners’ emotions in online learning. Taylor & Francis Online.
Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01587910802004852 . April 3,
2021.

Volery, T. and Lord, D. (2000). Critical success factors in online education. ResearchGate.
Retrieved from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/225157840_Critical_success_factors_in_online_educat
ion. April 3, 2021

Goolkasian P. (1995). Psychology and its role in information technology. ResearchGate.

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https://www.researchgate.net/publication/227005471_Psychology_and_its_role_in_information_
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Links:

https://www.who.int/news/item/28-09-2001-the-world-health-report-2001-mental-disorders-
affect-one-in-four-people

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/depression

https://www.who.int/mental_health/media/investing_mnh.pdf

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/209835833_Academic_expectations_stress_inventory_
Development_factor_analysis_reliability_and_validity

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.3109/09638237.2015.1078883