Abstract

Senior high school students face significant stress and academic pressures specifically impacting their academic performances, mental health, physical, emotional, and their overall well-being. Senior high school students face an increase of workloads, time management, and pressure to excel academically in preparation for college and future careers. This research studies the coping abilities engaged by students to manage stress and academic pressures, focusing on both positive and negative coping strategies. Using the purposive sampling technique and semi-structured interviews, the researchers are able to collect data from chosen senior high school students. The study findings show that (1) senior high school students utilize a wide range of coping mechanisms such as time management, social support, and religious coping. These coping mechanisms have shown (2) both positive and negative effects such as personal, familial, cultural, healthy and unhealthy coping, and relaxation techniques. Some (3) senior high school students to negative coping strategies, such as avoidance behaviours, which leads the students to negatively affecting their academic performance as well as their well-being. The research study also (4) highlights the role of the school environment, peer influence, as well as parental support in shaping the students’ resilience. By analyzing the observations, this study (5) emphasizes the need for educational institutions to implement stress management programs, mental health awareness campaigns, and counseling services to promote healthier coping mechanisms. This research contributes to a (6) better understanding on how senior high school students handle stress, emphasizing the importance of mental health awareness and academic resilience in educational institutions.

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