Coping strategies and academic performance of working high school students in San Jose West District

Abstract

This study intends to determine whether the demographic profile and the coping strategies significantly relate to the working students' academic performance level using the mixed method approach. There were 206 respondents randomly selected among the 320 working students from public secondary schools in San Jose West District for school year 2021-2022.The qualitative data gathered from the interview underwent thematic analysis, while the quantitative data gathered were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) using WarpPLS version 7. Based on the results of the interview, eight coping strategies were extracted as the main themes from the respondents' narratives. These became the bases for constructing the survey questionnaire related to coping strategies of working students namely, escape-avoidance, grit, leisure, planful problem-solving, religiosity, resilience, seeking social support, and time management. The findings presented that the working students often used their preferred coping strategies. They also had satisfactory academic performance in English and Mathematics, as well as very satisfactory performance in Filipino. Among the given profile variables of the working students, age, sex, and nature of work revealed a significant relationship with the academic performance while the academic performance was significantly related to only four indicators of coping strategies namely, escape-avoidance, grit, religiosity, and time management. With these results, it was recommended to establish a policy to monitor the progress of working students and to implement an intervention program in order to address any coping strategies that have a direct influence on their academic performance.