ACLC College of Iriga Inc.

San Miguel Iriga City

Voices Unheard: A Qualitative Exploration of Untold Stories of Students Having Social

Review of Related Literature and Studies

This chapter presented the relevant literature and studies that were needed to explain
some concepts considered by the researchers in strengthening the claim and importance of the
present study. In this following part of chapter, terms were presented.

Foreign Literature

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in negative mental health outcomes throughout
the world, and its impact on social interactions and relationships is likely to be evident in
problematic social anxiety. This systematic review qualitatively synthesized data from studies
that have reported on the effects of the pandemic on social anxiety. A systematic search of Web
of Science Core Collection, Embase, Psych INFO, Scopus, EBSCOhost, Cochrane Central
Register of Controlled Trials, and ProQuest Central—Dissertations and Thesis was conducted,
with thirty-three studies meeting the inclusion criteria. The results suggest that social anxiety has
been heightened in the general population due to the pandemic, with women and low-income
earners being especially vulnerable. Other contributing factors include impaired coping
strategies, lower socio-emotional well-being, limited support networks, and contraction of the
SARS-CoV-2 virus. Individuals with a Social Anxiety Disorder diagnosis may be at risk of a
deterioration of mental health in general. Limitations of the literature reviewed include the
predominance of cross-sectional study designs, which limit causal inferences are limited.
Additionally, associations may be inflated as many studies have not accounted for mediating
variables. Taken together, the research suggests that social anxiety, either pre-pandemic or arising
due to the pandemic environment, has contributed to a variety of negative mental health
outcomes related to social anxiety. (Environ, 2023)

Lockdown measures have been widely used to control and prevent virus transmission in
pandemic regions. However, the psychological effects of lockdown measures have been
neglected, and the related theoretical research lags behind the practice. The present study aimed
to better understand the mechanism of social anxiety in pandemic regions where the lockdown
measures were imposed, based on the conceptual framework of the Stimulus-Organism-
Response (SOR). For that, this research investigated how lockdown measures and psychological
distance influenced social anxiety in the pandemic region. The Chinese national data was
analyzed for the outcome.

The results showed that (1) psychological distance mediated the relationship between
pandemic COVID-19 severity and social anxiety, (2) lockdown measures buffered the
detrimental effect of the COVID-19 pandemic severity on social anxiety, (3) lockdown measures
moderated the mediation effect of psychological distancing on social anxiety caused by the
COVID-19 pandemic. In conclusion, under the SOR framework, the lockdown measures had a
buffer effect on social anxiety in pandemic regions, with the mediating role of psychological
distancing. (Environ, 2020)

However, in addition to scientists who study the pandemic, biologists, doctors, and
humanists, educators are obliged to care for the psychological and emotional health, as well as
cultivate the minds, of children. The consequences of the containment measures of COVID-19
are being detrimental to the mental health of people around the world. It is logical that the most
vulnerable are children who do not understand what is happening and who, along with the
concern and frustration of their elders, may present risk factors, such as anxiety and affective and
post-traumatic stress disorders (Giallonardo et al., 2020). However, not only minors are affected.
According to (Roy et al. (2020), more than 80% of people over 18 have shown the need for
attention to their mental health as a result of the anxiety and stress experienced during the
pandemic. (Forte et al. (2020) agree with this idea, stating that the pandemic has caused stress,
psychological discomfort, sleep disorders, and instability, among others, in a large part of the
population. In this sense, many questionnaires have been applied to obtain information in the
educational context or related to it from research groups at different universities.
 The COVID-19 pandemic has led governments of many nations to implement home
quarantine, lockdown, and social distancing policies. In addition to many deleterious
consequences, these measures have led to a drastic reduction in exposure to in-person social
situations and in some cases to periods of mandatory avoidance of face-to-face interactions. For
university students in Israel, this made the 2019–2020 academic year quite distinctive: the fall
semester started regularly with in-class lectures and regular face-to-face interactions, whereas the
spring semester was conducted virtually during a 2-month lockdown in which people were
restricted to their homes except for medical emergencies or purchasing of basic supplies. While
these unique circumstances must have had dramatic influence on certain people’s physical and
mental health, their economic circumstances, and their social support (e.g., Bu et al., 2020;
Fernandes, 2020; Ghosh et al., 2020; Pfefferbaum & North, 2020; Usher et al., 2020)

The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak has negative effects on
the public’s psychological well-being, national economic state, and social development. Sudden
decrease of social activities can easily trigger social anxiety and unhealthy emotions, especially
for those youth who continued their education at their homes. Social interaction is a
psychological need peculiar to human beings. People can obtain others’ recognition and respect
by actively engaging in interpersonal communication. In this way, people also obtain a sense of
safety, which guarantees their psychological health. Social interaction plays an extremely
significant role in human activities

Social anxiety is becoming an increasingly common phenomenon among the youth due to
the current severe social employment and other internal and external pressures; moreover, their
mental health levels are heavily influenced by the current pandemic (2). Although youths mainly
stay and study in campuses with pure interpersonal environment, the social roles they play will
gradually transform and increase with the growth of age, especially for those who are about to
graduate; given that their interpersonal environment becomes increasingly complicated, they can
be anxious more easily when faced with interpersonal problems (3). Different factors can trigger
the development of social anxiety, especially on young people. Thus, investigating the factors
related to social anxiety is significant to address and facilitate the psychological health of the
youth, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Psychological capital is a positive
psychological state, which is observed during individual growth process and mainly manifested
by various dimensionalities: hope, optimism, self-efficacy, and resilience. (Dongmei LI, 2020)
 According to Cambridge University Press, Adolescents and young adults at an early
epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. experienced increased depression and anxiety
symptoms, particularly amongst females. School and home confinement concerns related to the
pandemic were independently associated with changes in symptoms. Overall, this report suggests
that the COVID-19 pandemic is having multifarious adverse effects on the mental health of
youth. Across participants and independent of age, there were increased generalized anxiety and
social anxiety symptoms. In females, there were also increased depression and panic/somatic
symptoms. Multivariable linear regression indicated that greater COVID-19 school concerns
were uniquely associated with increased depression symptoms. Greater COVID-19 home
confinement concerns were uniquely associated with increased generalized anxiety symptoms,
and decreased social anxiety symptoms, respectively. (Hawes, Szenczy, Klein, Hajcak, Nelson,
2021)

Local Literature

According to Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale findings, the participants that had the
highest level of anxiety when grouped according to year level were the fourth-year students
while the group that got the lowest level of anxiety were the third-year students, whereas the
highest level of anxiety in terms of sex were the females compared to males and when grouped
according to the academic program of the respondents the highest were the students enrolled in
Bachelor of Elementary Education while the lowest were the students enrolled in Bachelor of
Science in Accountancy. This study showed that the graduating students had higher anxiety
levels compared to the other year level. The result of this study implies that college students of
Kabankalan Catholic College Experienced Moderate Levels of Anxiety during the Covid-19
Pandemic due to new normal types of learning such as modular and online classes that made
their work more difficult regarding their time and internet connection. (Loberas, 2022)

Anxiety is indeed prevalent among adolescent students during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The majority of the students were noted with social anxiety followed by panic anxiety and
generalized anxiety. This anxiety was significantly associated with household income, source of
COVID-19 information, COVID-19 exposure, and vaccination status. This study emphasizes the
importance of screening anxiety disorder to enable school and healthcare professionals to
provide targeted support and treatment among these students and to further prevent other
negative effects of anxiety disorders among these age groups. Out of 8117 junior and senior
students enrolled in a public school, 404 were recruited in the study using a stratified random
sampling technique. Results showed that 54.24 % of respondents were noted with anxiety
disorder. Among adolescents with anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder was noted to be the
most predominant at 23.2%, followed by panic disorder at 11.08 % and Generalized anxiety
disorder at 9.09 %. Factors such as annual household income (p=0.010), source of COVID-19
information (p= 0.023), COVID-19 exposure (p=<0.001), and vaccination status (p= <0.001)
were associated with anxiety among adolescents in a public secondary school. (Fernandez,
Cardinal, 2023)

According to the findings, COVID-19 pandemic anxiety has a significant relationship

quality of life among Filipino college students. The mediation results show that this relationship

is both positive and negative in nature. Without accounting for academic stress, this relationship

is positive in nature. Higher levels of pandemic anxiety can possibly increase students’ quality of

life. When academic stress is included in the model as a mediator, the indirect effect of pandemic
anxiety become negative in nature. High levels of pandemic anxiety may tend to increase
academic stress, which in turn decreases quality of life among college students. The inconsistent
mediation reveals that the relationship between COVID-19 and quality of life is double edged.
(Cleofas, Rocha, Parcon, 2023)

The Philippines’ mental health burden has increased, with 35.89% of the Filipino
population exhibiting moderate to severe anxiety symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic (4).
Recent publications, such as the Philippine Development Plan 2017–2023, have emphasized that
young adults are among society’s most vulnerable population groups, as childhood is a critical
phase in which these illnesses emerge (5). Moreover, it is estimated that 16% of children had a
mental disorder prior to the pandemic (5). Likewise, another local study in a single institution
setting estimated that about 35 and 47.2% of students are at risk for depressive and anxiety
disorders (6). During the pandemic, the mental health burden seemingly worsened, with suicide
attempts among Filipino youth increasing to 7.5% in 2021 from 3% prior to the pandemic (7).
Therefore, it is essential to assess the factors contributing to the mental health burden of Filipino
youth during the pandemic.

According to the 2021 Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Study (YAFS5), a fifth of the
population of “Metro Manila” or National Capital Region (NCR), one of the Philippines’ most
populous regions, consist of young people aged 15–24 or about 2.4 million people (8) Among
them, 51.7% are females and 48.3% are males, while 26.4% are senior high school students
taking grades 11 and 12 (8). Moreover, this number of young people accounts for about 12% of
the Philippines’ young adult population (8). Therefore, with a relatively large portion of the
Filipino youth, the factors influencing the mental health of young people from Metro Manila can
be determined to address and reduce their magnified mental health burden during the COVID-19
pandemic. (Serrano, Cuyugan, Cruz, Mahusay, Alibudbud, 2023)

The study investigated the relationship between depression, anxiety, and stress on the
students' academic performance. The results of the study based on the levels of severity imply
that most of the students are experiencing hopelessness, rejection of life, and dysphoria
concerning depression. Subjective anxious effects and situational anxiety are rampant in the
everyday lives of the students. Additionally, lack of emotional control and physical difficulty are
signs of high levels of stress that are also common within the students. The results of the study
concluded that the severity level of depression, anxiety, and stress of the students provide no
significant relationship with their academic performance. This indicates that despite the high
levels of depression, anxiety, and stress on the students, they are still able to accomplish and
manage their academic duties and maintain their own desired graded average efficiently. This
may be because of subjective factors affecting the mental thinking of students. In addition, the
results showed that there is no significant relationship with negative mental health symptoms and
academic achievement. Though the high levels of depression, anxiety, and stress are still
alarming and can affect the development of the students as individuals, especially as they are
about to transition towards their adult and college life. (Tus, 2021)

MEMBERS:
 Lagatic, Malyn C.

Antioquia, Rosalie P.

Oliva, Renier V.
 ACLC College of Iriga Inc.
San Miguel Iriga City

Voices Unheard: A Qualitative Exploration of Untold Stories of Students Having

Scope and Delimitations

The general intent of this study is to explore the experiences of students who are
grappling with social anxiety in the aftermath of the pandemic. The study aims to uncover the
shades of perspective of individuals whose stories have often remained untold. Through in-depth
interviews. By focusing on selecting a diverse range of participants who are students
experiencing social anxiety post-pandemic. The research will consider contextual factors that
may influence students' experiences of social anxiety post-pandemic, including but not limited to
socio-economic status, access to mental health resources, cultural norms, and the level of social
support available. The study will primarily focus on the immediate aftermath of the pandemic
and its impact on students' social anxiety. Long-term effects or changes over time may not be
fully explored within the scope of this research. The research will specifically concentrate on
social anxiety and will not extensively explore other mental health conditions such as depression
or generalized anxiety disorder. The study will primarily focus on the experiential aspects of
social anxiety itself, rather than its broader consequences on academic achievement or other
outcomes.

MEMBERS:

Lagatic, Malyn C.

Antioquia, Rosalie P.

Oliva, Renier V.