The Impact of Depression on the Academic Performance of Students at Dionisio Lopez Sr.

National High School

 CHAPTER I

Introduction

Depression is a state which a person feels very sad, hopeless and unimportant and
often is unable to live in a normal way. According to Bansal, Gayal, and Srivastava (2009), a
lot of physicians did not believe that depressive disorders existed in the youth 40 years ago.
Nowadays, the youth are very prone to depression due to many factors that can affect their
emotional, mental, psychological state of mind in their everyday life especially being a
student. This study about depression is quite strange topic because it is very mysterious yet
the majority of people especially in school settings lacks knowledge about this topic.

In the recent time, depression occurred more and more often to almost all of the teens.
The statistics of National Institute of Mental Health (2014) states that depression is the most
often mental disorder that teens and adults in United States have. According to their study,
over 2.8 million youth with age of 12-17 have experienced at least one major depression.
Another study from faculty.washington.edu (2013) states that depression can last longer and
may last for a year or so. Depression can be triggered in several of ways like failures, lost
loved ones, identity loss, and many more. They clear that not everyone who experience these
negative events catch on depression. On the contrary, there are factors that make them
vulnerable to into it is a severe mental disorder that may last longer, but there are some
people who can endure it because they are aware of themselves.

According to World Health Organization-Philippines (2017), in the whole Philippines

alone, they stated that about 3.9 million people are living with depression and about
3.07million people are living with anxiety. They added that depression is one of the most
leading factor that makes one person to commit suicide. They further explained that a serious
national talk regarding depression in which every Filipino is engaged is urgently needed.
They also concluded on their research that depression is a mental disorder that spread in a
whole wide world and it can affect our daily living. Unlike many large-scale international
problems, a solution for depression is at our hand.
 In addition, the American Psychological Association also known as APA (2017)
defined depression more than just a sadness, but also a mental disorder. People experience
depression because of lack in interest and pleasure in daily activities, significant weight loss
or gain, insomnia or excessive sleeping, lack of energy, inability to concentrate, feelings of
worthlessness or excessive guilt and recurrent thoughts of death or suicide.

Depression is a topic that is studied by a lot of researches from time to time but the
past studies failed to explore or interpret the experiences of a youth student that undergo the
process of depression and the themes of it in a classroom setting. Furthermore, World Health
Organization did not specify the age range of people who suffer from it. The American
Psychological Association have failed to elaborate and further explain the definition of
depression. They only stated the reason behind `1-`depression. It focuses more on the people
who are grown up. They did not mention about the teenagers that experience the depression.
Anyone can be a victim of depression as suggested to a related study, it can be a teen or an
adult. That study failed to explain the difference of experiences between the teen and adult
depression. Literature also missed to fill the gap about what do victims of depression do
lessen the problem or mental disorder they have. In addition, this research will also serve as
an instrument to view the experiences of a depressed youth student and the themes behind it
and explain the possible reasons on how a person or a youth student can solve his/her
situation.

This study aims to understand the depression on youth among students through
exploratory research design to discover the factors affecting their psychological and mental
aspects and also to know what causes them to be emotionally compromised that leads to a
depressive state.
Statement of the Problem

Academic performance is affected by a number of factors including depression.

Depressed mood also affects behavior. Depressed people sometimes feel worthless. The
results of the study revealed that there is a negative effect of depression on student’s
academic performance. So, the researcher aims to investigate the study the Impact of
Depression on the Academic Performance of Students at Dionisio Lopez Sr. National High
School. This also seek to answer the following sub questions.

1. What are the academic performance outcomes for students diagnosed with depression
compared to those without depression?
2. How does depression affect the students' concentration, motivation, and study habits?
3. What is the prevalence of depression among students at Dionisio Lopez Sr. National
High School?

Significance of the Study

This research would be beneficial to the students because they will know the negative
effects of depression in their academic performance. In this study the students can be aware
on things that depression can do to them.

This research would also beneficial to teachers and administrators because they will
be able to understand the changes of the behavior, perception in life and academic
performances of the students that were engaged to stress and depression. They can easily
cope up to the student’s attitude.

This research would be help to the parents they can know the effects of stress and
depression to their child. The parents knowing the risk of depression they can help to prevent
and avoid their child to be depressed.

This research would be beneficial to the future researcher because they can get some
information that might needed in their research and some of their question may possible be
answered by this research.
Scope and Limitations

This study focuses on the Impact of Depression on the Academic Performance of

Students at Dionisio Lopez Sr. National High School. The data collection will be conducted
to the students in Senior High of Dionisio Lopez Sr. National High School who will represent
the population.

Theoretical Framework

Most psychotherapeutic treatments for depression are underpinned by a clear

theoretical framework of how a specific therapy is supposed to engender change in patients’
mood states. In light of the fact that various psychotherapies have been proven to be effective
for treating depression, one would perhaps assume that theoretical frameworks are also
evidence based.

However, demonstrating that a therapy is effective is not the same as providing

evidence or explanations as to how it actually works, that is, the process through which a
certain variable leads to change in another variable. In addition to effectiveness studies that
target an overall treatment package, understanding how therapy targets the interplay between
specific factors that are believed to be of importance can ultimately give rise to specific
treatment recommendations or improvements to treatment protocols.

Conducting a verification of the underlying theoretical framework of a form of

psychotherapy can help optimize treatment strategies, that is, direct better, stronger, or
different treatment strategies that underpin the critical processes of the treatment.
Conceptual Framework
A conceptual framework illustrates the key factors involved in the research study and
their interrelationships. In this case, the study aims to explore the impact of depression on the
academic performance of students at Dionisio Lopez Sr. National High School.

The framework below highlights the primary factors contributing to the research
problem, categorizing them as independent and dependent variables.

Academic

Stress Depression

Self-Esteem

In figure 1 framework on the Impact of Depression on the Academic Performance of

Students at Dionisio Lopez Sr. National High School stated that Academic, Stress, and Self-
Esteem are one of the factors that student academic performance may affected.

Definition of Terms

The following meaning are provided as the words utilize as planned to be under for
the purpose of this researcher as words many have different meaning in different content.

Depression. is a mental health disorder characterized by persistent feelings of sadness,

hopelessness, and a lack of interest or pleasure in most daily activities.
Academic Performance. refers to how well a student is able to achieve their educational
goals and demonstrate their knowledge and skills in academic settings.

Stress. is a physical, emotional, and mental response to external pressures or challenges that a
person experiences.

Self-support. refers to the ability of an individual to meet their own physical, emotional,
financial, and psychological needs without relying on others for assistance.

Self-esteem. refers to an individual’s overall sense of self-worth or personal value. It involves

how much a person appreciates and respects themselves, and it can be influenced by their
experiences, thoughts, emotions, and interactions with others.
 CHAPTER II
REVIEW RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter presents a closer point of view in the research’s related literature,
theoretical foundation and a shorter survey of related studies on The Impact of Depression on
the Academic Performance of Students at Dionisio Lopez Sr. National High School. These
will give a foundation for the systematic analyses that will make the findings, conclusions
and recommendations of the research.

The word “depression” is defined as “sadness” and as a “medical illness”, a

combination of such symptoms like a change of mood, physical symptoms like changes in
sleep, energy, appetite, a person’s degree of confidence also self-esteem. Depression is also
correlated with abuse of substances, unemployment, early pregnancy, and educational failures
that can lead people to commit suicide. Apparently, it is unusual or unlikely that someone
who’s having a hardship from depression to be noticed and managed (ADAP, 2007).

Additionally, Hoerman (2013) claims that depression during the belief of the 1970’s is
an ailment of adulthood and that children and adolescents do not experiences is now long
gone. It has already been measured or evaluated that depression is a form of mental illness
that affects most of the adolescents with prevalence rates between ten and twenty percent.
The National Institute of Mental Health has disclosed statistically a compelling variation
across age and gender in the lifetime prevalence of mood disorders, including depression, for
adolescents 13 to 18.

Another study on the topic by Pappas (2015), teenage depression is somehow

connected to cyber bullying in social media according to new researches that study different
online phenomena. Number of people who examines the victims of cyber bullying increases
especially when news of suicide occurs. Teenagers use social media more often this day
according to Michele Hamm, but the effects of it in one’s health is still unknown. It is most
likely for teens to experience depression in their adulthood when they are being bullied.

Early work by Renata and Jacek (2010) shows that an epidemiological appraisal of
depression during the adolescence age was always been a challenging issue since the late
studies during the 60’s and 70’s. Angold disclosed that the reasons behind the gap between
prevalence indexes should be looked for in the different therapeutic ways, diagnostic tools
used, as well as where the information came from. He also discussed the crucial problem of
the imprecise meaning of adolescent depression as a mental disorder and until now, the
problem hasn’t been solved yet.

Depression is an illness that intervene with a person’s functional ability. The

characteristics of depression can be from the feeling of boredom, irritability, and the inability
to feel pleasure instead of sadness. Depression cases that it is not treated can last over 7 to 9
months and most likely occur again in adulthood. Symptoms of depression are most likely to
be found in children and adolescents that is why it is hard to figure out the signs of
depression. Depression affects the daily activities of both children and adolescents. Both male
and female child have the same prevalence rate of depression but there is a sudden increase in
female rate when they reach the stage of puberty. There are also many factors that promotes
the development of depression in children and adolescents such as genetic and biologic
vulnerability, environmental factors, negative life events, and personality, temperament, and
vulnerability of the child (Ranttila & Shrestha, 2011).

In addition, a study in the University of Missouri stated that any form of social media
can be a source of depression depending on how a person use it. Using it as a tool for
surveillance to check on others may lead to the feeling of depression. By doing this, you
compare your own situation to your friend’s situation like having a vacation, relationship,
achievements, etc. This leads you to envy them and can lead you to depression. A tip for
those people who experience this kind of envy is that the post you have seen is customized to
show the positive side of their lives (Liu, 2015).

However, adolescents’ depression has no specific cause. Mayo clinic explains that
there are many factors that lead to depression. First is the difference in the brain, adolescents
have different brain structure than the adults. A depressed teen can also have a different
amount of hormone and neurotransmitters that helps their brain cells to connect and is one
responsible for regulating moods and behavior. The second one is traumatic early life events,
children don’t have enough experience to handle such a traumatic event in their lives like loss
of a parent or physical, emotional or sexual abuse and these can leave a lasting effect that can
contribute to their depression. The third one is inherited traits, research shows that if a child
or adolescent have a family member who is depressed, and it is most like for them to have it
also. The last one is learned patterns of negative thinking, teens always think in a bad way
like thinking of themselves as helpless instead of thinking of how to solve a problem and this
can also develop into depression (Krans, 2016).

The factors that leads to depression in youth specifically in students can be inherited,
also because of stress in social interaction (A. Thapar, Collishaw, Pine, & A.K Thapar, 2012).
Additionally, in the study of 2005, an early article about stress that also leads to depression is
categorized by feelings of tension, frustration, too much worrying, and sadness (Walker 2005;
ADAP, 2007; Ranttila & Shrestha, 2017). Because of that, depression are severe and lasts
longer that have been categorized by extreme feelings of hopelessness, sadness, isolation and
worthlessness that lasts for two weeks or more (Walker, 2005; ADAP 2007). There many
factors that may lead a students to be depressed, this is also as true as the articles that has
been stated, a student may feel depressed when he/she experience loneliness in his/her current
state because of those factors and the most severe effects of depression is an attempt or to
commit suicide, most young people who experience depression are at high risk in attempting
suicide than the young ones who do not experience depression, however, not all youth who
are depressed are attempting to commit suicide, this statement has been explained by Walker
(2005).

In addition, (2010), she stated that "All students are entitled to an education in a
positive environment" but a problem can go in the way of students to pursue their educational
attainment especially if it can deal some serious effect in terms of psychological and their
whole being. Previous conducted researches showed high rates of students' psychological
problems like anxiety, and depression are widely spread in universities in the world (Al-
Qaisy, 2011). Depression can cause negative effects on a student's education (Kurt D.
Michael, Timothy J. Hueisman, Claudia Gerard, Theresa M. Gilligan, & Melissa R.
Gustafson, 2006), and psychological unhealthiness (Al-Qaisy, 2011).
 CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY

Research Design
This research will employ a qualitative method such as interviews and focus groups will
allow for an in-depth understanding of students' experiences, perceptions, and decision-
making processes.

Research Respondents

The researchers of this study on the Impact of Depression on the Academic

Performance of Students at Dionisio Lopez Sr. National High School, the research
respondents would likely be selected from the student of the Senior High School Department
of Dionisio Lopez Sr. National High School level at this institution.

Instruments of the Study

The researchers use qualitative tools or methods used to collect data that provide
insights into participants' experiences, perspectives, and behaviors. These instruments help
the researcher explore a topic in-depth and generate rich, descriptive data. For a study on the
Impact of Depression on the Academic Performance of Students at Dionisio Lopez Sr.
National High School.

Ethical Consideration
To guarantee each participant in this study the researchers used informed consent. The
scope of informed consent included the study’s objective, length, and method, as well as the
participants’ anonymity and reported data confidentiality.
Furthermore, the researcher placed a high importance on the following principles respecting
rights, maintaining dignity, and preserving and supporting the well-being of research
participants. Respecting their rights means allowing them to choose whether or not to
participate in the study, as well as the opinion to withdraw if they so desired; safeguarding
their dignity means never pulling them down; and promoting their welfare meant never
exposing them to any harm or risk as a result of their participation.
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