Notre Dame University

Senior High School

Factors Affecting the Mental Health of NDU-SHS STEM Students During the Pandemic

A Research Paper Presented to the Notre Dame University – Senior High School Faculty in

Partial Fulfillment for the Requirements in Practical Research 1

Trisha Andrea C. Ampatuan

January, 2021
 INTRODUCTION

The global pandemic, COVID-19, has caused great distress not only to the economy and

public health, but also the regard of higher education student's mental health and STEM students

in NDU have become particularly involved. Mental health is a crucial subject that should be

given importance, for it controls the way we think, feel, make decisions, and simply, progress in

our daily lives. With the still developing body and mind of an adolescent, the pandemic puts a

great risk towards the mental wellness of a student. It is crucial for students to have a healthy

mental shape, in order to attain healthy relationships, take care of one’s body, involve themselves

in recreational and social activities, have a positive mindset, and enjoy life. The pandemic

condition of COVID-19 and the modern way of learning have brought these fragile encounters to

students, which have greatly impacted their mental health and well-being. Improving mental

health approaches suggest that module-based intervention may have a beneficial impact on the

mental health of teens, but limited evidence restricts this finding. The outcomes of online

prevention interventions show that computer-based instructional therapies provide significant

benefits to adolescents and emerging adults' signs of anxiety and depression. The exponential

growth in the usage of new media is an encouragement for young people to improve access to

factual mental health resources. This institutional research attempts to provide a narrative

synthesis of study online performance studies on the promotion and reduction of adolescent

mental health programs for students at Notre Dame University, STEM High School 11.
 Review of related literature

The goal of this study is to identify the factors affecting the mental health of NDU-SHS

STEM students during the COVID-19 pandemic and to recognize how these factors affect them.

It also aims to discover the possible means to cope with the pandemic and restore the mental

state. 

Demographic, psychological, and environmental factors affecting student’s health during

the COVID-19 pandemic: on the rocks.

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is spreading exponentially, increasing fear,

depression, and other mental health disorders in the general public. The “age” of the students and

“household size” positively impact students’ health, while the student’s existing “healthcare

profile” is not competitive enough to escape from the deadly coronavirus. The “knowledge” for

the coronavirus pandemic and its prevention guidelines is the only solution to contain

coronavirus. Simultaneously, “ignorance” is the foremost factor that could be more dangerous to

spread coronavirus among the students; besides the COVID-19 pandemic, students and general

public health mainly suffered from environmental pollution. The current epidemic also

exacerbated environmental concerns among students isolated in their homes, and their outdoor

activities are primarily limited. Hence, the student’s quality of life is exposed mainly to

environmental pollution over time. The “healthcare expenditures” and “government support”

both are not competitive enough to control novel coronavirus. Thus, it required more sustainable

strategic policies and national unity to control coronavirus with firm conviction and provincial

synchronization.
The students are exposed mainly to the coronavirus pandemic, both mentally and physically. The

disruption of their studies and social isolation makes them worst their health profiles; hence, the

need for social and healthcare reforms is highly desirable for students to get out of them from

misery. The healthcare effects were mostly visible due to coronavirus fear; students’ mental

health is mainly destroyed.

Mental health status of students’ parents during COVID-19 pandemic and its influence

factors

During the outbreak of COVID-19, the national policy of home quarantine may affect the

mental health of parents. However, few studies have investigated the mental health of parents

during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the past, many studies have proven that individuals have

strong stress responses in natural disasters or crises. In a large sample survey conducted

nationwide recently, 35% of the public experienced psychological distress during the outbreak of

COVID-19. The stress response caused by such public health events is generally manifested as

anxiety and depression, and studies have shown that risk of depression and anxiety increases

when people are in a state of long-term stress. Confirmed and suspected patients can also face

long-term psychological problems after they are cured. Social support, as a supportive resource

obtained by individuals from others or the society, is an important factor affecting individual

mental health and can help individuals cope with the crisis in life. As a regulator, social support

had an important effect on the stress response during severe acute respiratory syndrome. A recent

study has shown that social support plays a moderating role between the public’s acute stress and

anxiety during COVID-19 pandemic. Few studies have focused on the mental health of students’

parents. Since COVID-19 is highly infectious, and there is still a lack of effective treatment

means, the core of prevention is to reduce the crowd gathering. In the leadership of the central
policy, people began a long period of home quarantine, parents and children have to work and

study at home. Parents and children are confined to limited space. In an online consultation

during the COVID-19 pandemic, parents asked many practical problems such as how to get

along with children and how to deal with the conflicts with children. Many parents participate in

the relevant network lectures to improve communication with children, ease the family’s parent-

child conflicts and improve the quality of the parent-child relationship. In addition to the stress

caused by the pandemic, the parent-child relationship and the relationship between parents also

affect the mental health of parents in such a difficult period, and parents’ mental health can

further affect children’s mental and physical health, creating a vicious circle. Therefore, there is

an urgent need to pay attention to the mental health of parents during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Influence of Covid-19 confinement on students, performance in higher education

  The outbreak of Corona Virus disease (COVID-19) has caused a global public health

epidemic on a scale never seen before. With the closing of educational institutions came the need

for a swift transition from physical learning to digital learning. Online learning has been

identified as a potential solution to traditional learning (Adnan and Anwar 2020). However,

according to a meta-analysis on e-learning (Cook 2020), online learning is better than zero and

comparable to traditional learning.

  The Covid-19 epidemic has had a greater negative effect on students from less fortunate

backgrounds (Aucejo et al. 2020). Reduced family income, insufficient access to digital

infrastructure, and the high cost of internet accessibility have all disrupted students' academic

lives. Furthermore, 1.5 billion students globally are now deprived of a decent education (Lee

2020), resulting in a significant psychological effect on their welfare. Furthermore,

and social distancing, have impacted students' emotional well-being.

Closure of Universities Due to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): Impact on

Education and Mental Health of Students and Academic Staff

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which originated in the Chinese city of

Wuhan, has spread exponentially across the world, putting billions of people under quarantine.

The coronavirus disease has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization

(WHO). In view of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, a growing number of universities around

the world have either cancelled or cancelled all campus gatherings such as seminars,

conventions, athletics, and other activities. Because of the growing fear about the COVID-19

pandemic, a majority of universities around the world have postponed or canceled all campus

conferences such as lectures, conventions, intra and interuniversity sports, and other events.

Universities have made rapid progress in shifting various groups and programs from face-to-face

to online delivery.

The transition to online distribution has piqued the attention of many teachers and

students around the world. Faculty members have also started writing lesson plans for online

instruction of their pupils. For any university, online teaching is not a novel form of distribution.

Many faculty members are trained to use online learning tools as the sole mode of

implementation or as an adjunct to face-to-face instruction. However, there is always the

possibility that those faculty who are not technologically savvy will be unable to cope with this

mode. The faculty's willingness to work with existing technologies has been called into question

as a result of the move to online mode. Working at home would also be a challenging challenge

for the faculty. Furthermore, many universities lack the requisite technology and services to
allow immediate online teaching. What about students who don't have access to computers or the

internet at home? It's not easy to teach practicals and laboratories, music and art classes online.

The consistency of online education is a key concern that must be tackled.

Social Behavior and Youth Psychopathology During the Pandemic 

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought upon quite big and unparalleled changes in the

way the youth operate with their daily lives, this takes account of the social distancing measures

and stay-at-home ordinance ordained by the government. These elements resulted in an

unforeseen and abrupt decrease in regular socialization for children and adolescents. Declines in

social interaction are likely to have grave consequences for teenagers’ well-being, including

feelings of isolation, loneliness, and even depression, considering that peer relationships are

significant in this development stage. 

Recent discoveries have focused on the unequaled challenges the COVID 19 pandemic

has created for families in which included illness, unemployment, increased caretaking

responsibilities, as well as the corresponding increase in mental health problems that have

occurred for both children and adults. Youth who appear to have lower levels of in-person and

virtual communication, immense social isolation, and reduced peer and familial support during

the pandemic post greater risk of internalized and externalized symptoms of psychopathology or

mental illness. A study states that complications in peer relationships are strongly correlated with

youth psychopathology. Elevated levels of peer related stressors, being excluded or absent from

a friend group, feelings of loneliness, are all associated with increased risk of developing

depression and anxiety. Hence, the sudden uprising of the COVID-19 pandemic that caused

pervasive disturbance in social interactions and activities, contribute to the high risk of

developing mental health problems during these times.

In general, people are showing difficulty in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and its

uncertainty, hence these factors may generate anxiety. The impact of this pandemic on

individuals who already suffer with mental illness is presumed to be significant, because most

psychiatric disorders show a complex correlation with stress, which may lead to an increase in

incidence and relapse rates. It has shown that Illness Anxiety Disorder is one of the most

commonly diagnosed problems. Any signs or indication of flu like symptoms develops an

increase in anxiety due to the fear of the possibility of contracting the COVID-19 virus. This

pandemic also has a severe impact for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder patients, most especially

those who suffer constant checking, hoarding, and washing compulsion. The need of proper

sanitation during these times might show a rise in contamination obsession and severe washing

compulsions.   Panic buying and excessive hoarding of essential items has also been evident

among mentally troubled individuals. Moreover, the sudden adjustment to the new normal and

disruption to one’s daily routine and lifestyle due to the pandemic has shown great impact on

Recurrent Depressive Disorder patients. 

Life in quarantine can produce feelings of excessive fear, anger, anxiety, and panic about

the feasible outcomes, boredom, isolation, and guilt about the wellbeing of one’s family. An

individual with a previous psychiatric disorder may cause problems to resurface and with a

renewed severity and may lead to PTSD or even self-harm and suicidal attempts.  

Mental Health Outcomes due to the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Collapsing Economy

Mental health problems are frequently ignored and underestimated in developing

countries, albeit they are still presumed to be highly prevalent, most particularly in the conditions

of a severe socio-economic crisis and political instability. 

individuals with younger age, female gender, foregoing high socio-economic status, a family

member suffering a chronic disease, terror of not getting access to treatment, fear of COVID-19,

and physical violence at home. Nevertheless, individuals with financial wellness and higher

family satisfaction showed lower signs of stress. This analysis showed the relationship between

the fear of COVID-19 as well as financial wellness on estimated marginal means of stress and

anxiety. The combined fear of the pandemic and financial struggles and hardships is correlated

with higher levels of anxiety and stress, most particularly among women and young adults. 

Mental Health Care Goes Online

The sudden outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has left practitioners no choice but to

have radical changes in mental healthcare delivery, considering that strict social distancing and

lockdown measures were imposed. Adoption of e-mental health tools were relatively low before

COVID-19, however, now these tools offer the potential solution of continuing high-quality

mental health care in regard to the measures of social distancing. This resulted in the sudden shift

of treatment delivery and has led to the sudden rise of online psychotherapeutic sessions. Though

this measure requires fast adaptations and may encounter numerous challenges along the way, it

still offers a potential venue toward sustainable and broadly accepted online mental health care

systems.  

Coping during the COVID-19 pandemic: Relations with mental health and quality of life.

The COVID-19 pandemic is causing widespread negative effects on mental health and

quality of life. But there has been little research into successful coping mechanisms to counteract

these effects. Of the examined specific coping strategies, categorized as approach or avoidance

coping, approaching coping was more beneficial than avoiding coping, which proves to cause
higher anxiety and depression over time. Positive reframing proves to be the most beneficial

coping strategy among the examined strategies, suggesting that interventions focusing on

reframing negative aspects of the pandemic may be most beneficial to improve general well-

being.

University students under lockdown, the psychosocial effects and coping strategies

during COVID-19 pandemic: A cross sectional study in Egypt

In the cross-sectional survey at the University of California Los Angeles, results show

that during the pandemic, different degrees of depression, anxiety, and stress of the surveyed

students reported. Various coping strategies were used by the students as a means to cope during

the lockdown. Dysfunctional coping strategies, including venting, denial, and substance use, had

the lowest scores on Brief COPE. In contrast, problem-focused coping strategies, including

planning and active coping strategies, had the highest scores on Brief COPE. Undergraduate

university students are very prone to experience psychosocial problems during the current

pandemic. Educational institutions should work together with the authorities to promote their

students' mental health and academic performance.

         This study will determine the Factors Affecting the Mental Health of NDU-SHS STEM

Students During the Pandemic. Specifically, it will seek to answer the following questions:

1. What is the profile of the respondents in terms of:

a. Age

b.   Gender

2. What are the problems encountered by NDU-SHS STEM Students during the pandemic

in terms of:

a. Health and wellbeing 

b. School and academics 

c. Socialization 

d. Financial Situation 

3. How do these problems affect the mental health of NDU-SHS Students? 

4. What are the means to cope with these factors done by NDU-SHS STEM Students?
 Significance of the study

This study is focused on the factors affecting the mental health of Notre Dame

University- Senior High School STEM students during the pandemic. The result of this study

will be beneficial to the following:

1. Educational Administrators

a) This will give them data of the several factors affecting the mental health of STEM

students during the pandemic.

b) This will provide the result of the extent on how these factors affect the STEM students.

2. Teachers

a) This will give them data of the several factors affecting the mental health of STEM

students during the pandemic.

b) This will be an input to improve the new normal learning of students and reduce its

impact on their mental health.

3. Parents and guardians

a) This study can provide awareness for students’ parents and guardians about the mental

health affecting problems encountered by their sons and daughters during the pandemic.

b) This will provide inputs help them find and come up with a means to cope with these

mental health affecting factors.

4. STEM Students

a) This will provide input and awareness to the STEM students as to what factors affect and

challenges their mental during the pandemic.

Adolescent - is used to describe young people who are no longer children but who have not yet

become adults. It also refers to their behavior.

Anxiety - is an emotion characterized by feelings of tension, worried thoughts and physical

changes like increased blood pressure.

Depression – it is a common and serious medical illness that negatively affects how you feel, the

way you think and how you act. Fortunately, it is also treatable. Depression causes feelings of

sadness and/or a loss of interest in activities you once enjoyed. It can lead to a variety of

emotional and physical problems and can decrease your ability to function at work and at home.

Distress – a feeling of extreme worry, sadness, or pain. Distress is the state of being in extreme

danger and needing urgent help.

Exponential Growth – it is a pattern of data that shows greater increases with passing time,

creating the curve of an exponential function.

Fragile - it is weak or uncertain, is easily broken or damaged, and unlikely to be able to resist

strong pressure or attack.

Mental Health - includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we

think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make

choices.

Mental Shape - psychology of shape suggests that every shape has a meaning attached to it,

which influences our mind and reactions differently. There are many theories based on

psychological tests which define the personality or mental state through shapes.
Therapies – a treatment that helps someone feel better, grow stronger from a disease or injury.

Psychopathology - the study of the nature of disease (including causes, development, and

outcomes)