Abstract:
This study on the negative habits which students adapt upon entering college
focuses on how it affects their academic performance. The researcher made a study about
the different aspects in which a Filipino college student may have substantial levels of
stress, and which of these may have a direct, negative effect on their grades.
In order to gather data from the students belonging to De La Salle University, the
researcher adopted the College Adjustment Scale which measures the levels of
psychological distress of college students in nine (9) different constructs namely: Anxiety,
Depression, Suicidal Ideation, Substance Abuse, Self-Esteem Problems, Interpersonal
Problems, Family problems, Academic Problems, and Career Problems. This research
design used both qualitative and quantitative methods. Important points within the study
are the correlation of the student’s high school performance as a predictive factor for his
or her college academic performance, and their specific scores in each of the 9 constructs
of the College Adjustment Scale along with the rise/fall of their academic performance
throughout high school and college.
The study was able to establish the common patterns and extremes from the
respondents’ high school performances and their college grade point averages. An
example of this would be the decrease in the numerical value of majority of the
respondents’ high school and college academic averages. The study was also able to
pinpoint the specific constructs which the respondents’ were experiencing high levels of
stress, and which not so much. With the data collected and analyzed, the researcher was
able to connect the stress causing constructs did have a relative effect on the decrease of
the respondents’ academic performance.
