Stress Levels and Coping Mechanisms Among Student Parents of Bestlink College of the Philippines

Vol. 5, No. 1

Abstract

Student Parents are students who are pursuing a degree at a university or college while maximizing their intellectual potential and raising their children appropriately. Despite having a kid, student parents continue to seek education and obtain a degree. However, as a regular student, they are likely to face stress caused by a range of variables such as the surroundings, financial, emotional, and intellectual stress, and so on. Parents who are also students may feel stressed by both roles. Parental stress can be caused by a variety of factors, including financial stress from child support and academic help, time management stress, emotional stress from school and having a child, and pressure stress from school and raising a child.

This study scrutinized the stress levels and coping mechanisms among student parents of Bestlink College of the Philippines. Researchers also ascertain the amount of stress and coping techniques of student parents at Bestlink College of the Philippines. This research uses a descriptive research method and purposive sampling techniques. The researchers-made questionnaire was used and given directly to the respondents to gather data from them. The statistical tools that were used in this study are frequency and percentage, ranking, mean, and a 4-point Likert scale to determine the stress levels and coping mechanisms of the student's parents.

Most of the respondents are between the ages of twenty-three and twenty-seven, and they are mostly females with one to two children. Financial stress-related factors ranked first on the survey, followed by family relationship stress-related factors, and socio-ecological stress-related factors ranked third on the survey. In terms of coping strategy, “problem-focused” got the highest rank, followed by “avoidance” and lastly, “emotion-focused,” which got third to the highest rank.

This study concludes that student parents have a high level of stress in terms of finances, which causes them to feel anxious about their financial future and how to meet the basic needs of their child or their family. Researchers also conclude that the respondents tackle their problems head-on and eliminate the source of their stress by developing a clear plan that will help them do better and start to feel more confident in their ability to succeed in any problems or situations they face.