Family Stress and Their Relation to Academic Performance

Chapter I The Problem and Its Background Introduction The term stress had none of its contemporary connotations before the 1920s. It is a form of the Middle English destresse, derived via Old French from the Latin stringere, "to draw tight. " It had long been in use in physics to refer to the internal distribution of a force exerted on a material body, resulting in strain. In the 1920s and 1930s, the term was occasionally being used in biological and psychological circles to refer to a mental strain, unwelcome happening, or, more medically, a harmful environmental agent that could cause illness.

Stress plays a role in the body, behavior and feelings of people. Stress comes in many forms. Things like our environment, physiological well being, thoughts and social stresses and stress inside our homes can have an effect on learning Stress, particularly family related stress can have an impact on a student’s academic performance. College students have many obstacles to overcome in order to achieve their finest academic performance. Different stressors such as time management, financial problems, sleep deprivation; social activities can all pose their own threat to a student’s academic performance.

The way that academic performance is measured is through the ordinal scale of general weighted average (GWA). A student’s GWA determines many things such as class rank. Much research has been done looking at the correlation of many stress factors that college students’ experience and the effects of stress on their GWA. There are many factors that can cause stress and influence a student’s academic performance and therefore affect his or her overall GWA.

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A college student may find him or herself in a juggling act, trying to support a family, taking care of job responsibilities, and at the same time trying to make the most of the college career. All of these factors can affect the grades of students, which ultimately affect the rest of their lives. Conceptual Framework Stress is a large part of everyday life. Most stress occurs at busiest moment like at home. It’s one of the most common places for stress to build. Nevertheless stress is unavoidable.

According to Marilyn Wedge, a family therapist, stressful situations at home like a parent losing a job, an illness, marital discord, or even conflicts about day-to-day issues may be troubling to a child without the parents even being aware of it. And often children go about trying to solve the family problem in the only way they know which may the cause of stress and, subconsciously or not, the children tend to bring the family problem outside home making the situation worst. These changes can cause health problems if experienced to frequently. If a child is stress the body responds negatively to it.

The body often becomes worn down making it more susceptible to becoming sick. Depending on how serious the stress, can determine the severity of its impact. The brain, nerves, and central nervous system interpret stress. There are several side effects that occur from stress. Insomnia is another factor that stress may bring on. This occurs when a child is disrupted with thoughts and questions that drive them crazy and cause an inability to sleep. Chronic pain, headaches and backaches can be stress induced when under pressure. The muscles in these areas become tense under stress.

Heart problems are the most common side effect. The pain felt in the chest is tension caused by an oxygen shortage to the heart. Heart attacks occur due to high blood pressure and can be fatal. Some behaviors that child takes part in to reduce or cope with stress may also bring on heart problems. Stress can also hurt emotionally as with depression. Research paradigm is shown on Figure 1. This included the input, the process, and the output. The input contains the profile of the 2nd year Accountancy students of De La Salle Araneta University, the family stress they encounter, and their academic performance.

In the process, questionnaires were distributed and observations were conducted to gather relevant information from the respondents. It also included the analy -sis and evaluation of the gathered data and information from the respondents. The output consists of the findings about the effect of family stress to academic performance of the respondents. Figure 1: The schematic paradigm used in the study. Statement of the Problem The purpose of the study was to identify the effects of family stress to the second year accountancy students of De La Salle Araneta University regards to their academic performance.

Specifically, the study aims to answer the following questions: a. How may the profile of the second year accountancy students of De La Salle Araneta University be described in terms of gender? b. What are the family experiences/stress and the academic performance base on GWA of the respondents? c. Is there a significant difference between male and female students in handling family stress? d. Is there any relationship between family stress and the academic performance of the respondents? Hypothesis

Family-related stress has no significant effect on the academic performance of second year Accountancy students at De La Salle Araneta University. Scope and Delimitation This research is delimited only to preparation and evaluation of stress level aimed at correlating the family related stress and academic performance of students through their GWA. The students were asked to complete a survey, including the perceived stress scale. Along with this test the students were asked to complete a demographic data sheet that asked questions such as age and gender, and also their classes and grades the prior semester.

The respondents are thirty college Accountancy sophomore students of De La Salle Araneta University (which includes 8 boys and 22 girls) during the 1st semester of academic year 2012-2013. The respondents are chosen randomly from a block section of Accountancy. Significance of the Study The researchers intend to show the impact of family related stress in the academic performance of second year Accountancy students of De La Salle Araneta University through their General Weighted Average (GWA).

Moreover this study, address itself to: the students that they may understand the impact of family related stress in their academic performance and eventually help themselves , to the professors that they may observe the behavior of students and help them through guidance and referral to the University Guidance Office for help, to families, specially the parents and the guardians that they may help their family member cope with stress from its roots (family related stress) and bring out their optimum academic performance, and to interested people in the academe and community that they may gain insights on this research to help people around them understand the possible impact of family-related stress to the academic performance of a student, and to other interested individuals that they may find knowledge on this research. Definition of Terms To further understand this research, below are terms used in the research.

GWA (General Weighted Average). It is a term that refers to the average of grades in all subjects taken, whether passed or failed. It is the result of combining the performance rating based on the screening criteria or subject. It serves as the indicator of a student's academic performance in a given semester or school year. Stress. It is a term that defined as an organism's total response to environmental demands or pressures. When stress was first studied in the 1950s, the term was used to denote both the causes and the experienced effects of these pressures. More recently, however, the word stressor has been used for the stimulus that provokes a stress response.

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