Coping Mechanisms of Students of the College of the Holy Spirit of Manila With Ofw Parents (Print)

COPING MECHANISMS OF STUDENTS OF THE COLLEGE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT OF

MANILA WITH OFW PARENTS

A RESEARCH PRESENTED

TO THE FACULTY OF NURSING OF

COLLEGE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT OF MANILA

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT

OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE OF NURSING

By

Ma. Juvilisa B. Dioneda

Janela Feb C. Ligutan

2012

Chapter I

Introduction

Background of the study

Working in a foreign country is doubly harder for people who have a son or daughter to

leave behind in the Philippines. The decision to accept a job offer abroad may mean that you will

miss some of the growing up years of your child. Though some overseas Filipino workers

(OFWs) are luckier because their host country and visa may allow them to bring dependents

along, majority of the OFWs have to face the reality of being away from their children.(OFW

Guide, 2012).

A week away from the people you love can be difficult to bear. It’s so much worse if the

time period is in months or even years, and in another country to boot. Staying in touch with all

your kids and keeping tabs on the goings-on in their lives becomes a challenge, especially if

you’re a parent to young children and teenagers. (Villarin, 2010)

Children and adolescent cope differently when they are left behind depending on their

stage of development and who is the migrating or left behind parent or guardian. (Tobin, 2008)

Coping is intimately related to the concept of cognitive appraisal and, hence, to the stress

relevant person-environment transactions. Most approaches in coping research follow Folkman

and Lazarus, who define coping as `the cognitive and behavioral efforts made to master, tolerate,

or reduce external and internal demands and conflicts among them. (Krohne, 2002)

Coping is an important construct in understanding how adolescents react to the extensive

stressors and adjustments they experience. (Garcia, 2010)

The events laid led the researchers to initially find out any difficulty experienced by both

boys and girls students and mainly focus on how they cope with the difficult experience without

their parents.

The fifteen students’ individual differences as far as their coping mechanisms are

concerned are given focused in this study. Their individual differences comes not only from their

demographic profile and diverse family backgrounds, but will also be coming from their means

of coping with their difficulty experience.

In addition, this study is concerned with the coping mechanisms of the students with

Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) parents at College of the Holy Spirit of Manila. It will also

seek to find out the coping strategies of the students in terms of their identified difficult

experiences. Their identified individual experiences come not only from their demographic

profile and diverse family backgrounds, but will also be coming from their means of coping

mechanisms.

Identifying the difficult experiences of the student during challenging times provides us

the opportunity to emphasize the coping mechanisms and strategies of student with OFW parent.

This quantitative phenomenological study has a great opportunity in appreciating and

understanding the psychological and emotional problems of student with OFW parent and their

coping strategies during that phase.

This phenomenological study is of great benefit for the students to be aware of their

coping mechanism and strategies employed by them during challenging times since they are the

primary respondents of this study.

Statement of the problem

This study aimed to know the coping mechanism of the students with Overseas Filipino Worker

(OFW) parents at College of the Holy Spirit of Manila, this will provide necessary intervention

to help students in their adjustment.

Purpose of the study

General objective:

This study generally aims to know the coping mechanism of the students whose parents are

overseas Filipino workers.

Specific objectives:

This study specifically aims to:

1. Determine the demographic profile of the students enrolled at College of the Holy Spirit

of Manila based on the following:

a. age

b. birth order

c. gender

d. Years in the College of the Holy Spirit of Manila?

2. Determine the general profile of the students according to family background based on

the following:

a. parents living together

b. parents working abroad

3. Determine the most difficult experience they encounter in College of the Holy Spirit

Manila

4. Determine the three most employed coping mechanism in the identified difficult problem

Hypothesis

HO:

T h e r e i s n o s i g n i f i c a n t r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n O F W p a r e n t s

a n d t h e a c a d e m i c performance of the student.

H1:

T h e r e i s a s i g n i f i c a n t r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n O F W

a n d t h e a c a d e m i c performance of the students.

Conceptual Framework

Figure 1

This study which mainly aims to identify the coping mechanisms employed by students is mainly

grounded on three theories. The above figure show theories on how the development of a person

is influenced by different factors based on theoretical foundations, specifically in this study are

those of the Social Cognitive and Birth Order Theories. The Social Cognitive Theory of Bandura

tell us that a person’s gender development is not just only influenced by biological, behavioral or

environmental factors alone but through the interplay of the three. Adler’s theory on the other

hand is also a personality theory that explains the relation of a person’s birth order to his

Alfred Adler’s

Birth Order Theory

Bandura’s Social Cognitive

Theory

ENVIRONMENT

COPING MECHANISM

Lazarus and Folkman’s

TRANSACTIONAL MODEL OF STRESS AND COPING

personality. Both these theories are important for us to identify the individual difference of a

person from another.

The third theory on this study which is Lazarus and Folkman’s theory on the

Transactional Model of Stress and Coping explains to us that stress is a person-situation

interaction that is influenced by the person’s environment. Within the said environment that

poses events that may be threatening, harmful or taxing of resources, a person develops coping

mechanisms.

Significance of the study

Since this research would determine the Coping Mechanisms of the students with

Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) parents at College of the Holy Spirit, Manila for School Year

2012-2013, the results will benefit a number of sectors namely:

The primary respondents of this study will be able to identify and be given increased

awareness on the difficulty they are experiencing as well as their coping mechanisms in the

identified difficulty. Awareness of their response to the identified difficulty would help them

improve their participation and involvement in school activities. This study would also create

opportunities for the primary respondents to openly communicate their frustrations and feelings

in relation to a particular circumstance. Sharing and discussing it with the researchers would also

have the potential to lessen the tensions coming from the identified difficulty or experience.

For the researchers, it will help them prepare and create a more comfortable and conducive

atmosphere of learning for the students that would encourage active participation and healthy

competition. They shall also be able to respond more effectively to the learners’ individual

differences.

For the administrators, it will guide them as they respond to the needs of every learner. It will

also equip them with more useful information regarding the student’s behaviors and identify the

areas that are needed to be improved.

For the Guidance Counselors, this study will aid them in the process of enhancing the

components of their guidance curriculum which can be more suitable to the felt needs of the

students.

For the Parents of the students will also gain a better understanding of their children’s difficulty

and behaviors in school. This would enable them to help their child identify more appropriate

coping mechanisms in times of difficulties.

For the Future researchers it will also benefit from this study by gaining insights on coping

mechanisms employed by the students during challenging times. They also used this study for

future references

Scope and limitation

This study is limited only on the “Coping Mechanisms of Students with OFW parents at

College of the Holy Spirit of Manila” school year 2012-2013. This study focuses attention only

on the students whose parents are overseas Filipino workers. This study includes the

demographic profile of students enrolled at CHSM. It will give emphasis on identifying most

critical experience they had. It will also determine the coping mechanism employed by the

students in their identified critical experience.

Definition of terms

The following terms are operationally defined to identify and clarify how they will be

used in the study:

Age is the period of human life, measured by years from birth. It was used to determine patterns

of similarities or differences that could be factors for the coping mechanism employed.

Birth Order refers to the position of birth of the respondents in their family which will also be

used to determine patterns of similarities or differences that could be factors for the

coping mechanism employed.

Coping Mechanisms are ways by which the students manage a difficult situation or experience.

Coping Scales refers to the eight Coping Mechanisms used in this study which are as follows:

Confrontive Coping (Scale 1) describes aggressive efforts to alter the

situation and suggests some degree of hostility and risk-taking.

Distancing (Scale 2) describes cognitive efforts to detach oneself and to

minimize the significance of the situation.

Self-Controlling (Scale 3) describes efforts to regulate one's own

feelings.

Seeking Social Support (Scale 4) describes efforts to seek informational

support, tangible support, and emotional support.

Accepting Responsibility (Scale 5) acknowledges one's own role in the

problem with a concomitant theme of trying to put things right.

Escape-Avoidance (Scale 6) describes wishful thinking and behavioral

efforts to escape or avoid the problem. Items on this scale contrast

with those on the Distancing scale, which suggests detachment.

Planful Problem Solving (Scale 7) describes deliberate problem-focused

efforts to alter the situation, coupled with an analytic approach to

solving the problem.

Positive Reappraisal (Scale 8) describes efforts to create positive

meaning by focusing on personal growth. It also has a religious

dimension.

Family Background includes the name, marital status, occupation and the work place of the

parents and the type of family. It will be used to identify patterns of similarities or

differences that could be factors for the coping mechanisms employed.

Gender is the division of people into two categories, “men” and “women,” that will also be used

to identify similarities or differences that could be factors for the coping mechanisms

employed.

Ways of Coping Questionnaire is an instrument that can identify the thoughts and actions used

by an individual to cope with a specific stressful encounter.

Chapter II

Review of Related Literature

This chapter presents the literatures related to the study on the Coping Mechanism of

Students with Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) Parents at College of the Holy Spirit of Manila

for School Year 2012-2013.

Coping Mechanisms of Adolescents

Studies that directly examined the breadth of coping strategies found that, in general,

children and adolescents’ coping repertoires increase with age. As children grow older,

instrumental action is supplemented by planful problem-solving, which is among the most

common strategies adolescents report using when they encounter challenges. Distraction tactics

also become more diverse; compared to children, adolescents more often draw upon both

behavioral and cognitive strategies. The use of both behavioral and cognitive strategies may also

occur with the coping strategy of escape, although findings were less clear. Further, adolescents

are better able to attend to and reflect on their own internal emotional states, and increasingly

rely on more sophisticated strategies to deal with emotions. During adolescence, such emotion-

focused strategies can also lead to more rumination, which may even become more common into

early adulthood. At the same time, other useful coping strategies are on the rise, including

positive self-talk and intentional self-regulation of emotion. Adolescent coping is increasingly

self-reliant as cognitive strategies become more powerful in guiding action and regulating

emotions in the face of situational pressures. (Gembeck & Skinner, n.d.)

Other indications of increasing differentiation were evident when we compared general

findings across studies of older adolescents to those of children and younger adolescents—age

differences in coping among older adolescents are more dependent on the type of adversity

studied (e.g., coping in response to specific, self-identified stressors vs. general coping patterns).

An expanding and differentiated repertoire of coping actions coupled with an increasing

appreciation of the specific requirements of different stressful situations is associated with

increases in coping flexibility from early childhood to adolescence. As noted by Compas et al.

(2001). (Gembeck & Skinner, n.d.)

Greater diversity and flexibility in the range of coping responses available to the

individual is expected to develop during middle childhood and adolescence. In addition, with

increasing metacognitive skills in early adolescence, a greater ability to match coping efforts to

the perceived objective characteristics of stress is expected. (Gembeck & Skinner, n.d.)

However, it is important to note that, although some studies did provide support for

increased flexibility of coping among adolescents, especially older adolescents compared to

younger groups, it is possible that less flexibility will occur with age as young people more

routinely rely on the coping strategies that work well in particular situations (e.g., problem-

solving for controllable stressors compared to distraction for uncontrollable ones; Sorgen

&Manne, 2002) (Gembeck & Skinner, n.d.).

Results also clearly showed that early strategies, such as behavioural distraction or

contact seeking, do not disappear. In fact, one trend, which was hard to verify with the current

set of studies, suggested that it is adaptive to maintain access to these more ‘‘basic’’ coping

strategies. Early behavioural forms of coping may actually be more effective when dealing with

extreme forms of stress, and so older children and adolescents (maybe even increasingly and

intentionally) continue to draw upon them when they are needed (Gembeck & Skinner, n.d.).

For example, the supposition that behavioural distraction (i.e.,doing something fun) is

more effective than cognitive distraction(i.e., thinking about something pleasurable) in taking

one’s mind off seriously troubling events, may account for the increased use of distraction even

during adolescence when dealing with life-threatening uncontrollable events, like parental cancer

(Gembeck & Skinner, n.d.).

Many of these age differences suggest a pattern of normative improvements, as would be

expected. However, some age comparisons suggest increasing struggles with stressors and

coping, especially during the transition to adolescence (Donaldson, Prinstein,Danovsky, &

Spirito, 2000). Compared to older adolescents, young adolescents sometimes showed lower

levels of help-seeking and effort expenditure even in domains where they would be helpful (e.g.,

school). Moreover, although overall levels were low, there is a rise during early adolescence in

some of the potentially more maladaptive stress reactions, such as cognitive escape, rumination,

verbal aggression, and venting. It is even possible that developmental advances may introduce

new vulnerabilities. For example, young adolescents’ increasing capacity to reflect on their own

emotions brought with it increasingly sophisticated emotion regulation strategies, such as

positive self-talk. However, it may also open the door to emotional vulnerabilities, such as

increases in rumination and blaming others. In a similar vein, the same forward-looking

capacities that allow adolescents to plan for the future also allow them to worry about the future.

And the increasing autonomy of adolescents, although generally a positive development, may

also permit them to escape more effectively from home, when, for example, home contains a

parent suffering from cancer. Coping developmental gains and losses (Baltes, 1987) (Gembeck

& Skinner, 2011).

Children and adolescents report that they experience stress in their lives and that they

attempt to cope with that stress. Although most research on stress and coping has focused on

adults, recent attention to adolescents suggests there are developmental changes in coping during

adolescence and that particular coping strategies vary with gender and the type of stressors

adolescents’ experience. Older adolescents used a greater variety coping strategies and used

methods that directly reduce the impact of the stressor and involved a cognitive component (e.g.,

planful problem solving; reappraisal) more often than younger adolescents. Adolescents in all

age groups varied their strategies in relation to the type of stressor, but there were no significant

gender differences. The findings suggest that significant changes during a relatively short period

during adolescence may affect adaptive processes and have implications for intervention efforts

aimed at reducing the negative effects of stress during this period of development. (Williams &

McGillicuddy, 2000).

Common Stressors

Of the many stressors, problems with other people are the most commonly reported and

can be significant sources of distress for many adolescents. Compared to children, adolescents

encounter many new, potentially threatening or challenging social experiences. These escalate all

the way through later adolescence (about ages 20 to 22) when there may be significant social

transitions, such as leaving home, finding satisfying educational or career paths, and forming

intimate partner relationships.

Outcomes of Stressful Experiences

It is probably not surprising that significant life events and many of the common stressors

of adolescence have been linked to mental health and behavioral problems. These problems

include depression and anxiety, as well as externalizing behaviors, such as aggression and

antisocial acts (Compas, Connor-Smith, Saltzman, Thomsen, & Wadsworth, 2001).

Few studies have directly examined the positive outcomes of coping with stressful events

for adolescents. However, related research has demonstrated that experiences of dealing with just

manageable challenge are important to the development of a wide variety of capacities and skills.

Researchers point out that mistakes, setbacks, and failures are potential springboards for

discovery and learning, offering adolescents the opportunity to build resources for coping with

future negative events (Aldwin, 1994). Most researchers also agree that the outcomes of stressful

life events and daily hassles will be positive or negative depending on how adolescents respond

to them.

Stress Reactions and Appraisals

The impact of stressful events is dependent not only on the objective stressors

themselves, but also on adolescents’ subjective appraisals, defined as an evaluation of an event’s

potential impact or threat to well-being (Lazarus, 1991). For example, a stressful event can be

appraised as a loss, threat or challenge (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984; Skinner & Wellborn, 1994).

Appraisal of

loss implies a harm that has already transpired, whereas appraisal of threat implies an

anticipation of harm in the future. An appraisal of challenge identifies a stressful event that can

potentially result in some positive outcome. These appraisals are linked with emotional reactions

to stressors and coping responses. Situations perceived as more threatening prompt certain

emotions and coping strategies, such as more fear and more use of escape, withdrawal and

support seeking. Situations perceived as more challenging prompt different emotions and coping

strategies, such as more interest and problem solving (Irion & Blanchard-Fields, 1987; Skinner,

Edge, Altman, & Sherwood, 2003; Zimmer-Gembeck, Lees, Skinner, & Bradley, under review).

Another important appraisal is the controllability of a stressor (Rudolf, Dennig, & Weisz,

1995; Skinner, 1995). Some stressors, such as academic difficulties, are perceived as more open

to influence through effort. As a result, adolescents respond to them more instrumentally, using

active strategies, persistence, exertion, and problem-solving. When stressors are appraised as

lower in controllability or as inescapable, such as for parental conflict or medical events, they are

more likely to prompt withdrawal, the use of cognitive distraction, seeking social support, or

responses aimed at reducing emotional distress. As would be expected, adolescents’ stress

appraisals are important correlates of their mental health (Compas et al. 2001). For example, the

appraisal of a stressful event as more threatening has been associated with self-reported

symptoms of anxiety, depression, and conduct-related problems following parental divorce

(Sandler, Kim-Bae, & MacKinnon, 2000).

Coping Responses

Coping describes the transactional processes through which people deal with actual

problems in their everyday lives (Aldwin, 1994; Skinner & Zimmer-Gembeck, 2007, in press).

Coping encompasses a range of emotional regulation strategies, thought processes, and

behaviors. This means that coping is founded in an individual’s physiological responses to stress,

their appraisals of events, their attention, and their goals or the outcomes they desire. Coping also

depends on

social contexts and interpersonal relationships. Recent conceptualizations of coping have

highlighted the importance of two processes: stress reactions, which are largely involuntary and

might include behavioral and emotional impulses, and action regulation, which are purposeful

and serve to modulate or boost reactivity to stressful events (Skinner & Zimmer-Gembeck, 2007,

in press). Most interventions target intentional ways of coping, but the ability to cope well

depends on coordinating all of these systems under conditions of threat, challenge, or loss

(Lazarus & Folkman, 1984; Skinner & Zimmer-Gembeck, 2007).

Categories of coping responses

In order to describe how people cope in response to different stressors and to identify

adaptive means of relieving stress and building resilience, researchers and practitioners need

some way of organizing the multitude of coping responses. Yet, there is little consensus about

how to do this.

In one organizational scheme, coping behaviors have been grouped into those that 1) are

more engaged and approach oriented, 2) serve to avoid or minimize stress, 3) depend on seeking

others for support, and 4) involve withdrawal or helplessness (Ayers, Sandler, West, & Roosa,

1996; Seiffge-Krenke, 1995; Zimmer-Gembeck & Locke, 2007). The first category, approach-

oriented coping, has included direct problem-solving and actions taken to increase understanding

of the

problem. The second category includes coping strategies that have a common function of

avoiding or minimizing the stress, such as trying not to think about the event or distracting

oneself. The third category of coping involves other people as resources, either for emotional

support or for direct assistance. Finally, the fourth set of strategies includes escaping or

becoming helpless and doing nothing.

The development of commonly used coping strategies during adolescence

It is clear that there are individual differences in how adolescents respond to stress, but

there are also typical patterns of change. Coping experts have concluded that attempts and

behaviors aimed at changing the stressful situation (i.e., instrumental coping) are very common,

but decrease in use during adolescence, whereas coping that is focused on managing emotions

and reducing tension increases (Frydenberg & Lewis, 2000). In a recent review, we focused on

specific families of coping and summarized what is known about three families used most often

by adolescents –support seeking, problem-solving, and distraction (Skinner & Zimmer-

Gembeck, 2007).

Support seeking. Support seeking includes seeking information, emotional support, and

instrumental help. Adolescents’ patterns of support seeking differ from those of both children

and adults. Compared to children, adolescents are more likely to go to peers for emotional

support and help with daily hassles. At the same time there are declines in seeking support from

adults. However, these changes are dependent on the type of stressor. When in situations that are

appraised as uncontrollable or in which adults are known to have authority, adolescents typically

seek support from adults more often as they get older. Hence, adolescents, especially those

between 10 to 16 years old, still benefit from adult guidance and they typically become better

able to identify the best source of support for particular problem domains. At the same time,

adults often find it challenging to provide adolescents with developmentally-attuned support.

Adolescents benefit most from support and guidance when it fits with their needs for autonomy

and increasing skills at self-regulation (Zimmer-Gembeck & Locke, 2007).

Problem-solving. When assessed as cognitive rather than behavioral activity to guide mastery

over a problem, attempts at problem-solving increase with age. These increases are found

throughout adolescence, and between adolescence and young adulthood. This is particularly true

for self-reliance in decision-making and use of cognitive decision-making strategies to deal with

stress. These increases continue even into early adulthood. As would be expected from recent

research on brain development (Spear, 2000), the use of particular cognitive strategies such as

strategizing, decision-making, planning, and reflection does not seem to be widespread until late

adolescence or even early adulthood. In fact, the pubertal transition marks a time of less

extensive use of problem-solving than in late childhood. This time-limited decline in

problemsolving may correspond to a particular time of heightened stress reactivity that limits a

young

person’s capacity to direct attention to problem-solving coping strategies. At the same time,

increases in distraction, rumination, aggression, and avoidance are apparent.

Distraction. Most people, regardless of their age, rely on distraction to cope with stress as much

or more than support seeking and problem-solving. Young children rely on coping strategies like

playing with toys, reading or other behavioral distractions. Adolescents continue to rely on

behavioral distraction, but the use of cognitive distraction (such as thinking about something

positive) is increasingly used. Following a pattern similar to advances in cognitive ability, there

are increases in the use of cognitive distraction strategies beginning at about age 6 and

continuing to about age 14. Distraction is often used to supplement other coping strategies, and

the ability to shift between strategies, for example using both problem-solving and distraction to

full advantage, becomes more advanced throughout adolescence and into early adulthood

(Skinner & Zimmer-Gembeck, 2007).

The Well-Being of Children: Does Migration Matter?

Comparisons between the children of migrants and the children of nonmigrants (and further

comparisons of the children of different types of migrants) provide some measure of migration

outcomes on selected indicators of well-being. By limiting the respondents to children coming

from two-parent families, the comparisons will not be affected by extraneous factors. This detail

is important to keep in mind in the interpretation of the findings. We begin by turning to

dimensions which show marked differences in the conditions or perceptions of the children of

migrants relative to the children of non-migrants.

Where Migration Clearly Matters

Socio-economic Status

The family’s socio-economic status (SES) shows a very clear divide between the children of

migrants and the children of non-migrants. This came out whether the measure was perceived

social class or the more “objective” indicators, such as home ownership and ownership of

durable goods. The children’s perception of their family’s class status was measured by the

question: “Filipino families have different statuses in life. Some are poor, some are not poor, and

some are in the middle. In this card, where would you locate your family?” Most of the children,

especially the children of migrants, put their families in the middle. Compared with non-OFW

children, fewer OFW children considered their families as poor (31.2 percent among non- OFW

children vs. 12 percent among OFW children); conversely, more OFW children considered their

families as not poor compared with non- OFW children (28 percent vs. 19 percent). The

children’s perceptions about their families’ SES are also supported by children’s reports on home

ownership and ownership of durable goods. Families of migrants are more likely to own homes

than non-migrant families. Also, migrant families owned more appliances than non-migrant

families (8.41 vs. 5.65). Ownership of major appliances was distinctly higher among migrant

families. The access of migrant families to communication facilities is also very notable _ OFW

families are twice more likely to have a landline telephone connection than non-OFW families

(63 percent vs. 29 percent). Ownership of cell phones is even more telling: some 94 percent of

migrant families had cell phones as opposed to 60 percent among non-migrant families. Children

of migrants have also become part of the proli-feration of cell phones _ more than a third (35

percent) of OFW children had their own cell phones compared with only 12 percent among non-

OFW. This access to communications technology plays an important part in linking family

members separated by borders.

Where Migration Seems to Matter, But…

Being Family/Family Relationships

To have a better gauge about the parents' marriage, the study looked into the children's

perception of their parents' relationship. In general, the children viewed their parents' marriage as

positive _ less than three percent noted that their parents were often not in good terms. Majority

of the OFW and non-OFW children (59 percent) described their parents' relationship as very

good (magkasundong-magkasundo). More OFW children described their parents' relationship as

very good compared with non-OFW children (70 percent vs. 59 percent). However, among the

children of migrants, the children of migrant mothers were the least likely to describe their

parents' relationship in the same light.

The mean scores of the children's assessment of their parents' relationship and their own

relationship to various family members show interesting patterns. Mean scores were computed

using a four-point scale ranging from "1" (not very good) to "4" (very good). The mean scores

indicate that the children saw their parents' relationship as good to very good (mean of 3.57),

with OFW children reporting a higher mean score compared to non-OFW children (3.66 vs.

3.56). Among OFW children, however, the children of migrant mothers had the lowest score

compared to children from other migrant and non-migrant families. The Battistella and Conaco

study (1998, 1996) also noted that children in mother-absent families were more likely to

describe their parents' relationship as problematic. The persistence of this finding over time

suggests that the cracks in the marriage in mother-absent families may have prompted the

mothers' migration. Where divorce is not an option or legal separation is a long process,

migration is one of the few options available to women wanting a way out of a difficult marriage.

On the whole, most of the children reported good to very good relationship with other family

members. Mothers figured as the family member the children were closest to. In addition,

mothers were also mentioned as the persons they wanted to be close to (see also Liwag et al.,

1998). Other male family members were more likely to be mentioned as persons in the family

the children felt distant to. The strength of family relationship, particularly the children's

closeness to their parents, is reflected in the children's choice of their parents as role models.

Indeed, despite the hype about celebrities and sports personalities, majority of the children (64.1

percent) chose their parents as the persons they would like to be. Similar findings were tapped by

other studies among young people (Abrera, 2002; Sandoval et al., 1998). Although the age group

(15-21 years old) is different, a Social Weather Survey of young people in 1996 found that

young Filipinos were more likely to report a good relationship with their parents compared with

young Americans (Sandoval et al., 1998).

Communication Makes Family

Most of the children - about three in four - said that they could talk to their parents about

anything. However, the frequency of communication between children and parents is on the low

side: majority of the children (58.3 percent) reported that they talk with their parents only

"sometimes."

For the children of migrants, the majority said that they had regular communication with their

migrant parents. At most, some 10 percent (the children of seafarers) reported that they had no

regular communication with their migrant parents. The importance of keeping in touch between

those left behind and those who migrated was particularly highlighted in the FGDs. Separated by

migration, participants, particularly the caregivers, related that communication not only kept

family members updated about what goes on in their daily life (for migrant parents, hearing the

voice of their family members was very important), but it has also made it possible for fathers

and mothers to continue their parenting role. Through phone calls, migrant parents are consulted

over decisions affecting the family, including discipline issues concerning the children.

Letters, the traditional way of communication between migrants and the left-behind families,

have definitely been replaced by the telephone and SMS (short messaging services) or texting.

As may be recalled, the children of migrants had higher ownership of cell phones compared to

the children of non-migrants; OFW families also had higher ownership of landline telephones

and cell phones. With cheaper long-distance calls, the FGDs confirm the frequency of contacts

and more opportunities for family members, including children, to communicate with migrant

family members.10

Academic Indicators

As noted earlier, more children of migrants were enrolled in private schools than the children of

non-migrants. The investments OFW families make on education are not surprising since

providing for the education of children (and other family members) is one of the reasons

motivating people to work abroad.

Nine out of 10 children reported that they were happy or very happy with school. The children's

responses to the importance they attached to high grades, gaining knowledge, learning good

manners and seeing their friends in school were quite similar across all groups. Getting high

grades registered the highest importance.

At least during elementary, the children of migrants perform well in school. In fact, they have

fared slightly better than the children of non-migrants in several indices of academic

performance. As a measure of school performance, the study looked into the child's general

weighted average (GWA) during the past school year (2002-2003), awards received in the past

three years, inclusion in the honor roll or top 10, participation in extra-curricular activities, and

experience of failing or repeating a grade level.

Although the children of OFWs had higher general weighted average compared to non-migrant

children (83.7 vs. 82.3) last school year, the dif-ference is not so marked. In terms of awards

received in school in the past three years, around 31 percent of the children of migrants have

received various awards in school, with 23 percent receiving academic awards. The

corresponding figures among children with both parents present are much lower, at 20 percent

and 13 percent, respectively. When the grades and awards of parent absent children were

compared, the children of mother-absent families did not do as well in school as those who had

fathers working abroad or both parents working abroad.

Many more children of migrants are included in the honor roll and are more involved in

extracurricular activities. The data on failing or repeating a grade level also attest to OFW

children's good performance: fewer OFW children (three percent) repeated a grade level

compared to children of non-migrants (11 percent).

Turning to factors that could account for these school outcomes, the study examined the number

of hours children spent studying, the number of hours spent in school, and number of absences.

Around 60 percent of children, regardless of parents' migration status, spend one to two hours

studying at home. However, non-migrant children spend longer hours in school than the children

of migrants. About 65.5 percent of non-migrant children reported spending nine hours or more in

school compared to 56.3 percent among children of migrants. The children of migrants have

slightly fewer absences compared to those of non-migrants for both the present and the previous

school years. During the month preceding the interview, chil-dren of non-migrants averaged 2.08

absences, while children of migrants had a mean of 1.93. Sickness was the most common reason

why the children missed school.

In general, thus, the children of migrants are doing well in school, registering even better school

outcomes than the children of non-migrants. Among the OFW children, however, the children of

migrant mothers tend to score lower than the other children. This finding also came out in the

1996 study and seems to suggest the importance of mothers' presence in the academic

performance of the children.

Physical Health

The study tried to get some objective indicators of physical wellbeing, like the height and weight

measurements of the children. However, such infor-mation was patchy, except for those in

Negros Occidental, which provided complete data. Because of this, the analysis of the height and

weight data would be limited to the Negros sub-sample.

Based on the data, the children of migrants are generally taller and heavier than the children of

non-migrants. Among the females, the children of sea-based fathers are the tallest (mean height

of 145.32 cm) compared to the children of other migrant groups. They are also the heaviest

(mean weight of 42.45 kg). With the males, however, the children with both parents absent are

the tallest (mean height of 143.36 cm) and the heaviest (mean weight of 44 kg) compared to

children of other migrant groups. Comparing children across migrant categories, those with land-

based fathers working abroad were found to be the shortest and lightest, regardless of gender. In

the pre-teen age group (10-12 years), the female children were also found to be taller and heavier

than their male counterparts, since most of the children have yet to experience physical changes

due to puberty.

Unlike the 1996 study, the present study did not find any negative impact of mother's absence on

the children's physical well-being. It appears that the higher socio-economic status of parent

absent families may have more bearing on the nutritional status of the children. The role of

caregivers of parent-absent children may also be a factor in affecting the children's physical well-

being. Caregivers seem to have ensured that the children's health does not suffer in the absence

of their parents. Similar findings also emerge in the children's susceptibility to common ailments.

A. Susceptibility to Common Ailments

Susceptibility to common ailments was explored by the question: "How often do you experience

any of the following: cold, coughing, fever/flu, headache, stomachache, and loss of appetite."11

Children's responses were categorized into: (1) not experienced it at all, (2) rarely, (3)

sometimes, and (4) oftentimes. Based on the children's self-report, the study found that, in

general, the children of non-migrants are more susceptible to illnesses than the children of

migrants - this is suggested by the slightly higher mean scores of the children of non-migrants

vis-à-vis the children of migrants. This finding differs from the 1996 study which did not find

appreciable differences in the health outcomes of the two groups.

When comparing the mean scores among the children of parent absent families, mother-absent

children were observed to be the most susceptible to cold, cough, headache, stomachache and

loss of appetite. The differences are slight, but they suggest that the mother's absence is

associated with the children falling ill. In contrast, children with both parents who are migrants

appear to be the most resistant to common ailments. Fewer children with both parents abroad

reported experiencing cold, headache and stomachache.

B. Healthy Practices

Simple indicators of health-promoting practices and behaviors were explored in terms of the

amount of sleep and personal hygiene.

Most of the children enjoy adequate sleep, with about 70 percent sleeping more than eight hours

daily. However, more children of non-migrant parents get more than eight hours of sleep daily

compared to children of migrants (70.4 percent vs. 65.3 percent). Among parent-absent children,

those with mothers absent get the least amount of sleep per day (60 percent).

For personal hygiene, basic health practices such as hand washing, tooth brushing and bathing

were asked of the children. Of these measures, some variability was noted in the children's daily

bath habits. Children of migrants reportedly take a bath more often weekly than non-migrant

children.

General Well-being

An overall measure of well-being was tapped by the children's responses to the following

question: "Overall, would you say that you are very happy, somewhat happy, somewhat

unhappy, and very unhappy?" On the whole, the mean scores suggest that the children described

themselves as somewhat happy to very happy. Looking at the response categories, it is

interesting to note that none of the children considered themselves as very unhappy; rather the

responses generally reflect much optimism. Although the differences are slight, among the

children of migrants, the children of migrant mothers and those with both parents abroad tend to

have lower mean scores than the children of migrant fathers.

The study also probed into specific aspects of daily life which the children were busiest with,

what posed the most problem to them, and what made them happiest. Among the choices

presented to them, the children said they were most preoccupied with school (69 percent).

Moreover, school matters not only kept the children busy, they also posed the most problem (or

stressor) to them. The emphasis on education (specifically, doing well in school) in Filipino

families can be a source of stress to the children (Arellano-Carandang, 1995; 2001). Although

respondents also acknowledged problems with other issues - money, family, relationship with

teachers and classmates, relationship with friends - school was mentioned by most respondents

(32 percent). On the other hand, the source of happiness for the majority of children (67 percent)

was the family. Among the children of migrants, children who had both parents abroad were the

least likely (49 percent) to identify the family as that which made them happiest. Thus, during

this period, children are most pressured by school requirements while the source of their

happiness is the family.

A. Emotional Health

Several questions measuring anxiety and loneliness were included in the survey. A modified

Social Anxiety Scale (SAS) and Loneliness Scale (LS) were computed to provide summary

measures. The modified SAS ranged in value from 0 to 12 while LS values went from 2 to 24 _

the higher the score, the higher the levels of anxiety and loneliness, respectively. Other indicators

of emotional health can be gauged from the mean scores on children's responses to specific

feeling states.

The present study suggests that the children of migrants are less anxious and less lonely

compared with the children of non-migrants these findings depart from what was observed in the

1996 study. What is consistent with the earlier study is the pattern of children of migrant mothers

scoring higher in anxiety and loneliness scales. It must be qualified, however, that the differences

are slight. When the other measures are considered, the same pattern holds. The children of

migrant mothers reported feeling lonely, angry, unloved, unfeeling, afraid, different from the

other children, and worried compared to all other groups of children, including non-OFW

children.

B. Access to Social Support

Almost all of the chidlren (98.5 percent) claimed that they had close friends. Their usual

activities with their friends were playing, helping each other withschool-work and talking. The

study probed whether children had encountered problems in several life areas - assignments and

school-related work, relationships with teachers, classmates, siblings and parents, and "crushes" -

and whether they had access to some support if they did. Virtually everyone reported having had

problems with school-related work; the least of their problems had to do with crushes (28.9

percent said that this was not a problem). When the problem relates to school matters, children

readily seek out other family members - typically, mothers, and to some extent, siblings and

fathers (some departures are observed in the case of OFW children). If the problem concerns

teachers, classmates and siblings, at least nine out of 10 children approach someone; if the

problem has to do with parents or crushes, 22 percent and 25 percent, respectively, do not

approach anyone. Other than approaching mothers and other family members, children also

turned to teachers (particularly when the problems concern classmates) and friends (specifically

for concerns related to crushes). At this stage, children are dependent on family members, es-

pecially mothers, for support. Due to the changed configuration and composition of migrant

households, a lower percentage of the children in migrant families consulted with mothers. What

is important to highlight is the fact that children have access to some support and that for the

most part, they take an active part in doing something about difficulties that they encounter.

Where Migration Does Not Seem to Matter

In the earlier sections, we have considered outcomes in terms of measures such as the economic

status of the children's families, gender roles in the family, family relationships, academic

performance and so forth. In addition to outcomes, the 2003 Children and Families Study also

probed into the socialization of children, i.e., the "inputs" side of the equation, which may have a

bearing on indicators of outcomes.

The Socialization of Children

In the Philippines, many studies have documented the contributions of children in household

chores. The FGDs with caregivers confirm the importance of assigning some chores to children

as part of responsibility training. According to, the most common chores assigned to children are

cleaning the house (90 percent) and setting the table/washing dishes (83 percent). Close to half of

the children said that they render help in the following: taking care of their siblings, helping

siblings with school assignments, buying items, and watering plants/taking care of animals.

Fewer children were assigned cooking/marketing and washing/ironing clothes. Chore by chore,

the study found that more non-OFW children are given assignments: non-OFW children have, on

the average, 4.17 chores while OFW children were assigned 3.63 chores.

Values and Spiritual Formation

The transmission of values, including spiritual formation, from one generation to the next is one

of the major responsibilities vested in the family. Data in indicate that whether parents are

present or other caregivers are stepping in as parents, the values taught to children are very

similar. The rankings of the values may differ somewhat for children in OFW families and those

in non-OFW families - likewise, the rankings may shift a little among children of different

migrants - but what is quite striking is the convergence in the kinds of values passed on to

children. The top ranking values nurture sensitivity to other people: good manners/kindness,

generosity and obedience. Foremost child psychologist Arellano-Carandang (2001) noted that a

Filipino child has to learn a lot of pakiramdaman (feeling out) in navigating through the

extended family system. Interestingly, fostering independence is less emphasized.

Almost all the children had a religious affiliation. The majority -- 82 percent -- were Roman

Catholic. The rest identified themselves as belonging to other religions or churches: 4.5 percent

were Iglesia ni Cristo; 2 percent were Protestant; 4.4 percent were born-again; 0.6 percent was

Islam; and 6.6 percent belonged to other churches. Belief in God was not only nearly universal

(98.6 percent), but also very important in the children's life. Asked to rate the importance of God

in their lives on a 10-point scale, about nine in 10 children across all groups answered "10." In

terms of religious practices, the picture is less solid. The modal response to frequency of visits to

the church or mosque is "sometimes" (49.3 percent). Only 30 percent said that they often went to

the church or mosque, with the figure being higher among the children of migrants than among

non-migrants (42 percent vs. 30 percent). More children reported saying prayers often (49

percent), and again, more children of migrants reported that they prayed often than the children

of non-migrants (57.1 percent vs. 48.5 percent). Close to 90 percent of respondents said that they

prayed as a family, with most respondents reporting that they "sometimes" and "often" prayed

together.

The Problem of Estrangement among OFW Children

When asked, “Why are you going abroad?”, OFW parents will almost always say that it is for

their children. But many OFW parents are now finding out that their working abroad has

seriously damaged their relationship with the very people whose interests they have gone abroad

to serve.

Some stable families have weathered the separation of parents and children. Fr. Nilo Tanalega

has attributed this to what he calls “enhancements in global parenting”, in which technology has

encouraged parental presence, participation and engagement in the lives of children. Parents who

express interest in the activities of their children and make a point to be available at set times

more likely enjoy healthier relationships with their children.

But Fr. Tanelaga qualifies that communication mediated by technology cannot replace face to

face interaction. Topics of long distance communication may go no deeper than grades and the

day’s happenings at school. By contrast, face-to-face conversations allow parents to ask “How

are your friends? What are your dreams? What is hurting you?” Long distance communication

between parents and their children has produced superficial relationships. As one OFW child has

said: “My Mom tries to parent me when she is home. But I don’t feel she has the right anymore

to do this because she does not know me at all.” How heartbreaking it is for a parent who has

made so many sacrifices to come home to estrangement. “I miss my Mom,” said another OFW

child. “We used to talk a lot, but now I do not know what to say to her.”

OFW parents tend to overcompensate for their absence by indulging their children materially,

giving them more than what is proper, more than they need. It is unsurprising that many of these

children develop into materialistic, often rebellious, individuals with a well-entrenched sense of

entitlement. Moreover, the child-centered goals of the OFW effort tend to foster narcissism in the

children, instead of a healthy parental respect, other-centeredness, and love.

Before we say we are going abroad to work for the sake for our children, let us prayerfully

consider the consequences and think twice.

Chapter III

Research Methods

This chapter presents the research methods used in this study such as the research design,

sampling technique, settings, research instrument, and data gathering procedure.

Research design

The researchers in this study used the descriptive research. As a methodology, it involves

collecting, analyzing, and quantitative approaches at many phases in the research process, from

the initial philosophical assumptions to the drawing of conclusions (Cresswel & Clark, 2006).

Descriptive research involves gathering data that describe events and then organizes,

tabulates, depicts, and describes the data collection. It often uses visual aids such as graphs and

charts to aid the reader in understanding the data distribution. Because the human mind cannot

extract the full import of a large mass of raw data, descriptive statistics are very important in

reducing the data to manageable form. When in-depth, narrative descriptions of small numbers

of cases are involved, the research uses description as a tool to organize data into patterns that

emerge during analysis. Those patterns aid the mind in comprehending a quantitative study and

its implications.

In this study, the researchers investigated the Coping Mechanisms of the Students of

College of the Holy Spirit of Manila with OFW parents.

The researchers aimed at understanding the condition of our respondents on how they cope with

their identified difficult situation or experience.

Sampling technique

The respondents of this study were chosen through a purposive sampling design.

Purposive sampling is a decision concerning the individuals to be included in the sample are

taken by the researcher, based upon a variety of criteria which may include specialist knowledge

of the research issue, or capacity and willingness to participate in the research. Some types of

research design necessitate researchers taking a decision about the individual participants who

would be most likely to contribute appropriate data, both in terms of relevance and depth (Oliver,

2006).

Settings

The study was conducted at College of the Holy Spirit Manila, saint Arnold Jansen

Building 2nd floor in the library. The library is a good place to conduct an interview were the

place was quiet, secured in any disturbances and a well good ventilation.

Research instruments

To obtain necessary information from the respondents, the researchers made use 1 kind of

data gathering instrument that gave quantitative data.

The instrument used composed of: first is contained the interview guide questions which

composed a) demographic profile b) family background c) the survey questionnaire they had on

CHSM.

The likert’s scale of 4, 3, 2, and 1 used. 4 correspond to “Always” which means that the

coping statement was used. 3 correspond to “sometimes”, 2 correspond to “seldom” and 1

corresponds to “never”.

Data gathering

The researchers personally gave a letter of request to the dean asking for permission to

conduct the interview and administering questionnaire to selected students. When approval is

given, the researchers were endorsed to the guidance of college department for briefing,

assistance and the schedule for the data gathering process. Before the actual data gathering

process, the researchers introduced first themselves and discussed the purpose of the study the

respondents were assumed that their answers were to be confidential.

During the actual data gathering process, the respondents will give a survey questionnaire

and asked to fill- out the demographic profile sheet to have initial information. The researchers

explain each items found on the questionnaire in answering the ways of coping mechanism and

indicate by checking the extent a coping mechanism was used in the situation.

Chapter IV

Presentation, Analysis and Interpretation

1. Determine the demographic profile of the students enrolled at College of the Holy Spirit

of Manila based on the following:

Table 1 Age of the Fifteen respondents

Respondents Age

1 19

2 19

3 20

4 19

5 18

6 18

7 18

8 16

9 20

10 16

11 22

12 19

13 23

14 19

15 16

Table 1 shows that the Respondent’s age range in this study form is from 16 to 23years old.

Table 2 Birth Order of the Fifteen respondents

Respondents Birth order

1 1st born

2 1st born

3 1st born

4 1st born

5 1st born

6 1st born

7 1st born

8 4th born

9 1st born

10 3rd born

11 1st born

12 1st born

13 1st born

14 1st born

15 3rd born

Table 2 shows that twelve of the Respondent s are first born, two of the Respondent s are 3rd

born and 1 of the Respondent s is 4th born child.

Table 3 Gender of the Fifteen respondents

Respondents Gender

1 Female

2 Female

3 Female

4 Female

5 Female

6 Female

7 Female

8 Female

9 Female

10 Female

11 Female

12 Female

13 Female

14 Female

15 Female

Table 3 shows all of the Respondent are female.

Table 4 Years in the College of the Holy Spirit Manila of the Fifteen respondents

Respondents Years in the college of the holy spirit manila

1 4

2 3

3 4

4 4

5 3

6 3

7 3

8 5

9 4

10 1

11 1

12 3

13 4

14 1

15 5

Table 4 shows that five of the respondents are stayed for four years in the College of the

holy spirit of Manila, Five of the Respondent s are stayed for three years in the College of the

holy spirit of manila. Three of the Respondent s are stayed for 1 year in college of the holy spirit

of manila and two of the Respondent s stayed for 5 years in college of the holy spirit of manila

2. Determine the general profile of the students according to family background

Table 5 Years of parents in abroad of the Fifteen respondents

Respondents Years of parents in abroad

1 10 years

2 5 years

3 5 years

4 10 years

5 8 years

6 5 years

7 7 years

8 18 years

9 15 years

10 9 years

11 8 years

12 10 years

13 10 years

14 5 years

15 8 years

Table 5 shows that all of the respondents has a parent working abroad for more than 5

years. The range is between 5-18 years.

Table 6 Parents living together of the Fifteen respondents

Respondents Parents living together

1 Yes

2 Yes

3 Yes

4 Yes

5 yes

6 No

7 No

8 No

9 No

10 yes

11 yes

12 yes

13 yes

14 yes

15 yes

Table 6 shows that eleven students is living with their parents, while the other four are

not living with their parents.

Table 7 OFW parent/s of the Fifteen respondents

Respondents OFW parent/s

1 Both

2 Both

3 Father

4 Father

5 Mother

6 Mother

7 Mother

8 Father

9 Father

10 Father

11 father

12 father

13 Mother

14 Both

15 Father

Table 7 shows that three out of fifteen respondents that both of their parents are OFW,

while twelve out of fifteen respondents has a single parent working abroad as an OFW.

3. Determine the most difficult experience they encounter in the College of the Holy Spirit of

Manila

Table 8 Respondent’s difficult experience of student with OFW parents

Respondents Difficult Experience

1 I had difficulties during 1st year and 2nd year

college because I didn’t fit well

2 My difficult experience is in the academic

factor because of pressure on studies

3 Group activities regards to informing

4 Academic Factor because some subjects are

difficult to understand

5 School rules because I have difficulty of my

class schedule

6 Academic factor because im not in favor of my

course

7 Academic factor because it’s hard for me to

concentrate in my studies

8 Academic area because difficulty in

concentrating with her studies

9 School rules it is hard to act because of school

policies

10 Academic Difficulty because it is Not that

difficult but need to prioritize

11 Academic factor because it is hard to cope with

one of my subject

12 Academic factor because it is hard to

understand

13 Academic factor because some of the lesson is

hard to understand

14 Group ActivitiesBecause sometimes we don’t

have the same ideas in doing the activities.

15 Group Activities because At first, I was

hesitant to come within reach of my classmates

The above table shows the Respondent difficult experience of student with OFW parents.

Three of the respondents has a difficulty in group activities, and one of the Respondent s has a

difficulty regarding school rules/ policies and it is about how the school deals in a class schedule.

The rest are concerned about the difficulties they face in academic area.

4. Determine the most employed coping mechanism in the identified difficult problem

Table 9 The Over-All Top Three Most Employed Coping Mechanism, It’s Mean and

Interpretation

Scale Mean Interpretation Rank

Positive reappraisal 6.7 Sometimes 1st

Accepting

responsibility

4.72 Sometimes 2nd

Planful problem

solving

3.82 Seldom 3rd

The above table shows the top 3 mostly employed coping mechanisms of the fifteen

students from College of the Holy Spirit Manila.

All the respondents used the 8th coping scale known as the Positive Reappraisal with a

mean of 6.7. This shows that when experiencing difficult events they became quite inspired to do

something creative, they change and grow as a person in good way, they found now faith,

rediscovered what is important in life, change something about themselves and they pray. These

behaviors describe their efforts to create positive meanings by focusing on their personal growth.

On the other hand, the respondents’ second most employed coping mechanism, is the 5th coping

scale known as the Accepting Responsibility as their foremost employed coping mechanism

with a mean of 4.72. This means that the respondents acknowledges their own role in the

problem with a parallel theme of trying to put things right. They manifest the common behaviors

as follow: quite a bit criticized or lectured themselves, apologizes or did something to make up,

realized that they brought the problem, and made a promise that things will be different next

time.

Meanwhile, the 7th coping scale known as Planful Problem Solving is the respondents’

third most employed coping scale with a mean of 3.82. This shows that they quite concentrate on

what they have to do next, make a plan of action and follow it, they change something so it

would turn out all right, they looked at their past experiences and did the same thing, they

doubled their efforts to make things work and they come up with a different solutions to the

problem or difficulty. These actions describe their deliberate problem-focused efforts to alter the

situation, coupled with an analytic approach to solving the problem.

Respondent 1

Respondent 1 is a female and is 19 years of age. She is the first child of her parents. She

has already stayed for three (4) years in the College of the Holy Spirit of Manila and is now in

her 4th year. Her parents are both OFW for almost 10 years.

Difficult Experienced

Respondent 1 identified his difficulty to be one from the Academic Area. She said that,”I

had difficulties during 1st yr and 2nd yr”, her reason was, “I didn’t fit well.”

Coping mechanism Employed

Table 1. Top 3 Coping Mechanisms Employed by Respondent 1

Coping Scale Mean Interpretation Rank

Positive Reappraisal 7.2 Often 1st

Accepting

Responsibility

4.25 sometimes 2nd

Distancing 4.16 sometimes 3rd

Table 1 shows the top three coping mechanism employed by Respondent 1. The Positive

Reappraisal coping scale, with a mean of 7.2 , ranked first. It was followed by Accepting

Responsibility coping scale with a mean of 4.25. Third on his rank is the Distancing with a mean

of 4.16.

Respondent 2


has already stayed for three (3) years in the College of the Holy Spirit of Manila and is now in

her 3rd year. Her parents are both OFW for almost 10 years.

Difficulty Experienced

Respondent 1 identified an academic difficulty. She said that she got pressured on her

studies. According to her, “every year kasi tumataas yung stress siyempre yung major subject

mahirap tapos yung mga minor imbis na minor, nagpapamajor tapos kunyari sa major subject

yung ang daming lesson na kailangan basahin yung hindi na kinaya ng utak ko na iabsorb lahat.”

Coping Mechanism Employed

Table 2. Top three (3) Coping Mechanisms Employed by Respondent 2


Positive Reappraisal 8.29 Always 1st

Planful Problem

Solving

7.33 Sometimes 2nd

Accepting

Responsibility

7.00 Sometimes 3rd

Table 1 shows the top three (3) coping mechanisms employed by Respondent 1. The

Positive Reappraisal Coping Scale, with a mean of 8.29, ranked first. It was followed by Planful

Problem Solving Coping Scale with a mean of 7.33. For the third rank, the Accepting

Responsibility Coping Scale with a mean of 7.00.

Respondent 3

Respondent 3 is female and is 20 years of age. She is first born child of her parents. She

has already stayed for four years in the college of the Holy Spirit manila, and now in her 4th year

of college.

Difficulty experienced

Respondent 3 her difficulty came from group activities. She said that it regards to

informing. According to her, “she wait for the final result of the election or the outcome of the

process but unfortunately, we were informed by some of the students who were already

appointed that there are already appointments made for the new officers. Nobody informed us”.

Coping mechanism employed



Positive Reappraisal 6.71 Sometimes 1st

Seeking social

Support

6.17 Sometimes 2nd

Accepting

responsibility

6.5 Sometimes 3rd

Respondent 4

Respondent 4 is a female and is 19 years of age. She has already spent four (4) years in

the College of the Holy Spirit of Manila and is now in her 4th year. Her father is an OFW for

almost 10 years.

Difficulty Experienced

Respondent 4 identified an academic difficulty. She said, “some subjects are difficult to

understand.” She further stressed: “yung mga past lesson kasi usually yung nahihirapan talaga

ako sa math ayun talaga yung pinaka nahihirapan ako kasi kahit anong gawin ko hindi

maintindihan siguro kasi ayaw ko sa subject na yun.”




Self controlling 5.31 Sometimes 1st

Accepting

Responsibility

5.25 Sometimes 2nd

Escape- Aviodance 4.99 Sometimes 3rd

Table shows the top three coping mechanisms employed by Respondent 4. The self-

controlling coping scale, with a mean of 5.31, ranked first. It was followed by accepting

Responsibility coping scale with a mean of 5.28. third on her rank is the escape- Avoidance

Coping scale with a mean of 4.99.

Respondent 5


has already spent her 3 years in the College of the Holy Spirit of Manila and is now on her 3rd

year.


Her difficulty came from school rules from which according to him “there are times that I

don’t have classes every Monday- Wednesday because of my class schedule.”


Table 5. Top 3 Coping Mechanism Employed by Respondent 5

Coping scale Mean Interpretation Rank

Positive appraisal 8.14 Always 1st

Seeking social support 8 Always 2nd

Planful Problem

solving

7 Sometimes 3rd

Table 5 shows the top three coping mechanism employed by Respondent 2. The positive

appraisal coping scale with a mean of 8.14 ranked first. Followed by seeking social support

coping scale with a mean of 8 ranked second. The third is Planful Problem solving with a mean

of 7.

Respondent 6



year college. She lives with her grandmother.

Difficultly Experienced

Respondent 5 identified an academic difficulty as well. She said, “when I was 1st year of

college kasi ayaw ko talaga and course na nursing kaya hindi ako nagfocus kaya ngayon

nagsisisi ako at nahihirapan ako sa academic.”


Table 6. top three(3) Coping Mechanisms Employed by Respondent 6


Accepting

Responsibility

9.00 Always 1st

Positive Reappraisal 7.28 Sometimes 2nd

Self controlling 7.15 Sometimes 3rd

Table 6 shows the top three coping mechanism employed by Respondent 6. The

accepting responsibility coping scale with a mean of 9.00 ranked first. Followed by positive

reappraisal coping scale with a mean of 7.28 ranked second. The third is self controlling solving

with a mean of 7.15.

Respondent 7



year college. She lives with her grandmother.


Her difficulty came from the academic area from which according to him, “sometimes

it’s hard for me to concentrate in my studies, lalo na kapag maraming mga projects at

assignments na pinapagawa.”


Table 7 Top 3 Coping Mechanism Employed by Respondent 7

Coping scale Mean Interpretation Rank


Distancing 6.2 Sometimes 2nd

Accepting

Responsibility

6 sometimes 3rd

Table 2 shows the top three coping mechanism employed by Respondent 2. The positive

appraisal coping scale with a mean of 6.71 ranked first. Followed by Distancing coping scale

with a mean of 6.2 ranked second. The third is Accepting Responsibility with a mean of 6.

Respondent 8

Respondent 8 is a female and is 16 years of age. She is the youngest child of her parents.

She has already stayed for five (5) years in the College of the Holy Spirit, Manila and is now a

first year college student. Her father is an OFW for almost 18 years.

Family Background

Respondent 8 lives with her mother and her brother. Her mother is a caterer, working

here in the Philippines and her father is an OFW.


Respondent 8 identified his difficulty to be one from the Academic Area. She said that

she had difficulty in concentrating with her studies because her parents are separated. According

to her, “I cannot concentrate with my studies.” Her reason was, “Kapag naiisip kong hiwalay na

sila mama at papa, nalulungkot ako at medyo nawawala sa focus. Pero ang ginagawa ko para

makapagconcentrate ako ay iniisip ko na lang everything happens for a reason. Pinagbubutihan

ko na lang para makatulong ako kay mama.”


Table 8. Top Three Coping Mechanism Employed by Respondent 8



Seeking Social

Support

6.67 Sometimes 2nd

Accepting

Responsibility

5.75 Sometimes 3rd

Table 8 shows the top three coping mechanisms employed by Respondent 8. Positive

Reappraisal coping scale, with a mean of 7.72, ranked first. It was followed by Seeking Social

Support coping scale with a mean of 6.67. the third on his rank is the Accepting Responsibility


Respondent 9

Respondent 9 is a female and is 20 years of age. She has already spent 4 years in the

College of the Holy Spirit, Manila and is now a 4th year college student.

Family Background

Respondent 9 lives with her mother only. Her parents are both Optometrists. Her father is

an OFW for almost 15 years.


Her difficulty came from the School Rules from which according to her, “Minsan kasi di

ko gusto yung rules dito sa school. Yun bang ang hirap gumalaw kung madaming bawal.” She

further added that, “Maybe gusto lang ng school na matutong suumunod ang mga students sa

school rules kaya naman sumusunod na lang ako kaysa magkaroon pa ako ng problema.”




Planful Problem

Solving

8.33 Always 1st

Positive Reappraisal 5.58 Sometimes 2nd

Self Controlling 5.57 Sometimes 3rd

Table 9 shows top three coping mechanisms employed by participant 9. The Planful Problem

Solvuing coping scale, with a mean of 8.33, ranked first. It was followed by Positive Reappraisal

coping scale with a mean of 5.58. For the third rank she identified Self Controlling coping scale


Respondent 10

Respondent 10 is a female and is 16 years of age. She is the youngest child of her parents.

She has already spent 4 years in the College of the Holy Spirit, Manila and is now a 1st year

college student.

Family Background

Respondent 10 lives with her mother only. Her mother is a housewife while her father is

an OFW.


Respondent 10 identified an Academic Difficulty. She said, “Not that difficult but need to

prioritize.”





Accepting

Responsibility

8.00 Always 2nd

Planful Problem

Solving

7.00 Sometimes 3rd

Table 10 shows top three coping mechanisms employed by Respondent 10. The Positive

Reappraisal coping scale, with a mean of 8.43, ranked first. It was followed by Accepting

Responsibility coping scale with a mean of 8.00. for the third rank she identified Planful Problem

Solving with a mean of 7.00.

Respondent 11

Respondent 11 is a female and is 22 years of age. She is the eldest child of her parents.

She only spent 3 months from now in the College of the Holy Spirit, Manila and is now a 1st year

college student.

Family Background

Respondent 11 lives with her parents, brothers and sisters. Her mother worked as a nurse

and her father is a BSE graduate but he works as an auxiliary nurse. One of her parents is an

OFW.


Respondent 11 has found a difficulty in the Academic Area and Teacher Factor.

According to her, “I had hard time to cope with one of my subject as the last time I studied that

subject was in 2004, 8 ½ years ago.” She further added that, “The teacher cannot explain the

subject well. She gets confused most of the time.”




Accepting

Responsibility

6.00 Sometimes 1st

Distancing 5.67 Sometimes 2nd

Planful Problem

Solving

4.90 Sometimes 3rd

Table 11 shows top three coping mechanisms employed by Respondnet 11. The Accepting

Responsibilty coping scale, with a mean of 6.00, ranked first. It was followed by Distancing

coping scale with a mean of 5.67. For the third rank, she identified Planful Problem Solving with

a mean of 4.90.

Respondent 12

Respondent 12 is a female and is 19 years of age. She is the first child her parents. She

has already spent 3 years in the College of the Holy Spirit, Manila and is now a 3rd year college

student.

Family Background

Respondent 12 lives with her mother, brothers and sisters. Her mother is an accountant

and her father is an OFW and works as a cadd operator.


Respondent 12 identified an Academic difficulty as well. She said, “I had difficulty in

academic area because some of them are hard to understand.”




Planful Problem

Solving

8.83 Always 1st

Positive Reappraisal 8.15 Always 2nd

Accepting

Responsibility

7.25 Sometimes 3rd

Table 12 shows top three coping mechanisms employed by Respondent 12. The Planful Problem

Solving coping scale, with a mean of 8.83, ranked first. It was followed by Positive Reappraisal

with a mean of 8.15. For the third rank, she identified Accepting Responsibilty with a mean of

7.25.

Respondent 13

Respondent 13 is a female and is 23 years of age.

Family Background

Respondent 13 lives with her father, sisters, grandmother and cousin. Her father is a

retired police officer while her mother is an OFW.


Respondent 13 identified her difficulty in Academic Area from which according to her, “I

didn’t became a dean’s lister for 2 semester.” She further added, “I try to find happiness in every

way I can. I focused more on studies, and some of the lesson I didn’t understand. I always pray

to God. I have a better perception of a better life after circumstances.”





Planful Problem

Solving

7.17 Sometimes 2nd

Distancing 4.83 Sometimes 3rd


Reappraisal coping scale, with a mean of 8.86, ranked first. It was followed by Planful Problem

Solving coping scale with a mean of 7.17. For the third rank she identified Distancing coping

scale with a mean of 4.83.

Respondent 14


has already spent 4 years in the College of the Holy Spirit, Manila and is now a 4th year college

student.

Family Background

Respondent 14 lives with her grandmother. Her mother works as a private nurse while

her father is a handyman. Both of her parents are OFW.


Respondent 14 find her difficulty in Group Activities. She said, “Because sometimes we

don’t have the same ideas in doing the activities.” She further added, “I just do whatever I think

is right. I just make myself free on stress, thinking that I’m doing this for my family.”





Planful Problem

Solving

6.67 Sometimes 2nd

Accepting

Responsibility

5.75 Sometimes 3rd


Reappraisal coping scale, with a mean of 8.43, ranked first. It was followed by Planful Problem

Solving coping scale with a mean of 6.67. For the third rank she identified Accepting

Responsibility coping scale with a mean of 5.75.

Respondent 15

Respondent 15 is a female and is 16 years of age. She is a first year college in the College

of the Holy Spirit, Manila.

Family Background

Respondent 15 lives with her mother, brothers and sisters. Her mother is a public high

school teacher while her father works as a seaman. One of her parents is an OFW.


Respondent 15 identified her difficulty in the Group Activities from which according to

her, “At first, I was hesitant to come within reach my classmates, I thought that I may not be able

to mingle with them, my sense of inferiority complex is killing me but then, as the school days

passed by, I find out that they were nice girls and we became more closer now, I considered them

as my best buddies in the campus.”





Seeking Social

Support

5.17 Sometimes 2nd

Self Controlling 5.14 Sometimes 3rd


Reappraisal coping scale, with a mean of 9.00, ranked first. It was followed by Seeking Social

Support with mean of 5.17. For the third rank, she identified Self Controlling with a mean of

5.14.

Table 16 Demographic profile of the Fifteen students

Respondents Age Gender Birth order Years in CHSM

1 19 Female 1st born 4







8 16 Female 4th born 5


10 16 Female 3rd born 1






The Respondent’s age range in this study form is from 16 to 23years old. All of the

Respondent are female. Twelve of the Respondent s are first born, two of the Respondent s are

3rd born and 1 of the Respondent s is 4th born child. Five of the Respondent s are stayed for four

years in the College of the holy spirit of Manila, Five of the Respondent s are stayed for three

years in the College of the holy spirit of manila. Three of the Respondent s are stayed for 1 year

in college of the holy spirit of manila and two of the Respondent s stayed for 5 years in college

of the holy spirit of manila.

Table 17 Family background of the Fifteen Student

Respondents Years of parents in

abroad

Parents living

together

OFW parent/s

1 10 years Yes Both

2 5 years Yes Both

3 5 years Yes Father


5 8 years yes Mother

6 5 years No Mother

7 7 years No Mother

8 18 years No Father


10 9 years yes Father

11 8 years yes father



14 5 years yes Both


The above table 9 shows the family background of the fifteen students. Eleven students is living

with their parents, while the other four are not living with their parents . All of the respondents

has a parent working abroad for more than 5 years. Three out of fifteen respondents that both of

their parents are OFW, while twelve out of fifteen respondents has a single parent working

abroad as an OFW.

Table 18 Respondent’s difficult experience of student with OFW parents










class schedule


course






policies




one of my subject


understand


hard to understand





The above table shows the Respondent difficult experience of student with OFW parents.

Three of the respondents has a difficulty in group activities, and one of the Respondent s has a

difficulty regarding school rules/ policies and it is about how the school deals in a class schedule.

The rest are concerned about the difficulties they face in academic area.

Table 19 The Over-All Top Three Most Employed Coping Mechanism, It’s Mean and

Interpretation

Scale Mean Interpretation Rank


Accepting

responsibility

4.72 Sometimes 2nd

Planful problem

solving

3.82 Seldom 3rd

The above table shows the top 3 mostly employed coping mechanisms of the fifteen students

from college of the holy spirit Manila.

All the respondents used the 8th coping scale known as the Positive Reappraisal with a mean of

6.7. This shows that when experiencing difficult events they became quite inspired to do

something creative, they change and grow as a person in good way, they found now faith,

rediscovered what is important in life, change something about themselves and they pray. These

behaviors describe their efforts to create positive meanings by focusing on their personal growth.

On the other hand, the respondents’ second most employed coping mechanism, is the 5th coping

scale known as the Accepting Responsibility as their foremost employed coping mechanism

with a mean of 4.72. This means that the respondents acknowledges their own role in the

problem with a parallel theme of trying to put things right. They manifest the common behaviors

as follow: quite a bit criticized or lectured themselves, apologizes or did something to make up,

realized that they brought the problem, and made a promise that things will be different next

time.

Meanwhile, the 7th coping scale known as Planful Problem Solving is the respondents’ third

most employed coping scale with a mean of 3.82. This shows that they quite concentrate on what

they have to do next, make a plan of action and follow it, they change something so it would turn

out all right, they looked at their past experiences and did the same thing, they doubled their

efforts to make things work and they come up with a different solutions to the problem or

difficulty. These actions describe their deliberate problem-focused efforts to alter the situation,

coupled with an analytic approach to solving the problem.

CHAPTER V

SUMMARY, CONCLUSION, AND RECOMMENDATION

This chapter presents the summary of the whole study, the conclusions, and the

recommendations of the researcher based on the study conducted.

Summary

The study conducted was about the most employed coping mechanisms of the fifteen

students of the College of the Holy Spirit Manila with OFW Parents; their demographic profile,

family background and their identified difficulty that propels them to use the coping

mechanisms.

This study implies that the participants have their own set of coping mechanisms and it

varies only among the scales of Positive Reappraisal, Accepting Responsibility, and Planful

Problem Solving.

Major Findings

The major findings of the study are as follows:

1. The Respondents of this study belong to the age range of 16-23 years old that belong

to the Middle Adolescence stage to Young Adulthood stage.

2. All Respondents are female.

3. Twelve of the Respondents are first born child, two of the participants are 3rd born

and 1 of the participants is 4th born child.

4. Eleven students is living with their parents.

5. Twelve of the Respondents has a single parent working abroad as an OFW. Three of the

Respondents has a parents working as an OFW.

6. The over-all mostly employed coping mechanism, the 8th coping scale known as the

Positive Reappraisal ranked first. The second in the rank is the 5th coping scale

known as the Accepting Responsibility. Meanwhile, the 7th coping scale known as

Planful Problem Solving is the respondents’ third most employed coping scale.

Conclusion

After the analysis and interpretation of the data gathered, the researchers arrived at the

following conclusions:

1. Individuals belonging to middle adolescents group may be capable of employing the

cognitive components of coping;

2. Girls may cope similarly, but differs only in the most preferred way of coping using

cognitive and positive way of coping mechanisms.

3. An individual’s coping mechanism is a reflection of his/her characteristics based on

birth order as seen in their most preferred coping mechanism which differs from

each birth order to another. However, the accepting responsibility type of coping

mechanism is present on all birth orders but only differs in terms of ranking.

4. The results of the study based on the respondents’ family structure cannot conclude

that there are differences in coping mechanisms employed by students from

extended and nuclear families.

Recommendations

The researcher proposes the following recommendations:

1. A similar study that will support the findings of the researcher ;

2. A more comprehensive study about students with OFW parents;

3. More opportunities for frequent and purposeful dialogue should be provided whereby

school stakeholders (parents, teachers and administrators) can openly communicate their

frustrations and feelings in relation to a particular circumstance.

4. Peer discussion would have the potential to alleviate tension arising from stressful events

in schools.

5. A more comprehensive study similar to this but should include the intelligence quotient,

socio-economic status and psycho-spiritual components of the respondents are included.

6. A similar study that would focus on the Difficulties Experienced by students of College

of the Holy Spirit, Manila with OFW Parents.

REFERENCES

BOOKS

Giles, B. Ed. (2005). Introducing Psychology: Developmental Psychology .

London: Grange Books Plc

Kapunan, R.R., (2004). Educational Psychology. Manila, Philippines:Rex Book Store

Lupdag, Anselmo D.,(2004). Educational Psychology. Manila, Philippines: National Book

Store

Paler-Calmorin, Laurentina and Melchor A. Calmorin. (2007). Methods of Research and

Thesis Writing. Manila, Philippines: Rex Book Store

ELECTRONIC RESOURCES

BOOKS

Frydenberg, E.(1997).Adolescent Coping: Theoretical and Research Perspectives.

Retrieved November 6, 2011 from http://books.google.com/ books?

id=bJPJu3ECtaUC&printsec=frontcover&hl=fil&source=gbs_atb#v= onepage&q&f=true

Lazarus, Richard. (2006). A New Synthesis: Stress and Emotions. Retrieved October 14,

2011 from http://books.google.com/books?id=mATTP46QIp

4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=a+new+synthesis:+stress+and+emotions&hl

=fil&ei=b2cTs7KB8WQiQe926iuCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resn

um=1&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=a%20new%20synthesis%3A

%20stress%20and%20emotions&f=false

INDIVIDUALS

Seehorn, Ashley. (2011). The Effects on Children of Living in a Two-Parent Home.

Retrieved October 14, 2011 from http://www.ehow.co.uk/info_7979 277_effects-children-

living-twoparent-home.html

ORGANIZATIONS

ENCYCLOPEDIA

Coeducation. (2011). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved October 23, 2011 from

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/124099/coeducation

RESEARCH REPORTS

Buettner, Richard. (1994). Coping Mechanisms Used by Rural Principals in Saskatchewan

in Response to Stressful Events.( SSTA Research Centre Report #95-13). Retrieved August

23, 2011 from http://www.sasks

choolboards.ca/old/ResearchAndDevelopment/ResearchReports/Leaders hip/95-13.htm

Krohne, H.W., (2002), Stress and Coping Theories, Retrieved November 6, 2011 from

http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~schuez/folien/Krohne_Stress.pdf

Mitchell, D., (2004), Stress, Coping, and Appraisal in an HIV-seropositive Rural

Sample: A Test of the Goodness-of-Fit Hypothesis, Retrieved November 6, 2011 from

http:// etd.ohiolink.edu/send-pdf.cgi /Mitchell%20Dana.pdf? ohiou1103225821

Mosak, H., & Shulman, B.& (n.d.) Birth Order And Ordinal Position:Two Adlerian Views.

Retrieved November 6, 2011 From http://carterandevans.com/ portal/

images/pdf/article11.pdf

ABSTRACTS

McGillicuddy-De Lisi A. &, Williams, Kristin. (2000). Coping Strategies in Adolescents.

Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 20,(4). Abstract retrieved November 6, 2011

from http://www.science direct. com/science/article/pii/S0193397399000258

JOURNALS

Bussey, K., & Bandura, A. (1999). Social cognitive theory of gender development and

differentiation. Psychological Review, 106, 676-713. Retrieved November 6, 2011 from

http://des.emory.edu/mfp/ Bandura1999PR.pdf

Gembeck, M., & Skinner, E., (n.d.) The development of coping across childhood and

adolescence: An integrative review and critique of research, Retrieved November 6, 2011

from http://jbd.sagepub.com/content/35/1/1.refs .html

Pickhardt Ph.D, Carl E. 2009 The adolescent only child :Only children grow through

adolescence their own way. Published on July 19, by .. in Surviving (Your Child's)

Adolescence. Retrieved October 14, 2011 from

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/surviving-your-childs-adolescence/ 200907

/the-adolescent-only-child

APPENDICES

APPENDIX A

LETTER TO THE COLLEGE DEAN

COLLEGE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT OF MANILA

163 E. Mendiola, Manila

September 21, 2011

Dr. Jose Isagani Lacson

College Dean

College of the Holy Spirit Manila

Dear Dr. Lacson,

Greetings of Peace!

We cannot deny the presence of children of OFW in our institution as well as their problem and

concerns they are undergoing. This inspires interests of the undersign researchers to conduct this

research paper on Coping Mechanism of Students of College of the Holy Spirit of Manila with

OFW Parents. We hope the outcome of this study shall contribute relevant insights for the

administrators, teachers and students.

In line with this, We, Ma. Juvilisa B. Dioneda and Janela Feb C. Ligutan, fourth year

students of Bachelor of Science in Nursing are requesting from your good office to allow us to

administer a questionnaire to the fifteen students whose parents are OFW. The data that will be

gathered from this questionnaire will help us complete necessary information that will be

significant to our study.

If you have any questions regarding the study, you can reach us at our mobile number

09169152849/09054278322 or email address [email protected] and

[email protected].

Hoping for your favourable response! Thank you and God bless!

Very Truly Yours,

__________________ ___________________________

MA. JUVILISA B. DIONEDA JANELA FEB C. LIGUTAN

Researcher Researcher

Noted by:

_____________________ Approved by:

MS. NERIA CABALLERO ________________________

Adviser Dr. Jose Isagani Lacson

College Dean

APPENDIX B

AN INTERVIEW GUIDE ON THE COPING MECHANISMS OF STUDENTS OF

COLLEGE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT MANILA WITH OFW PARENTS FOR SCHOOL

YEAR 2012-2013

I. DEMORAPHIC PROFILE

Name: (optional) _________________________

Age: _____

Gender: _______

Birth Order: _________

Number of Years in the College of the Holy Spirit Manila: ____

II. FAMILY BACKGROUND

Mothers' Name: _______________________

Occupation: _______________

Fathers' Name: _______________________

Occupation: _______________

Living with:

____ Both Parents

____ Both Parents, brother/s, sister/s only

____ Both Parents, brother/s, sister/s, grandparents, Auntie, Uncle, cousin/s

____ Mother Only

____ Father Only

____ Others (please specify): __________________________

Are your parents ___ together, ___ separated?

Is your mother/father an OFW? __Yes ___ No

III. WHAT WAS THE MOST RECENT DIFFICULT EXPERIENCE (Academic Factor /

Teacher Factor / Group Activities / School Rules / Policies)* YOU HAD ON THE CO-

EDUCATION SYSTEM OF THE COLLEGE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, MANILA?

*Possible Scenarios of Difficulties

a. Academic Factor (When I got low grades./ When I don’t understand the lesson.)

b. Teacher Factor (When my teacher criticized/rejected my work./ When I’m not

satisfied with my teacher’s performance./ When I’m not comfortable with a

teacher of the opposite sex)

c. Group Activities (When I had hard time participating in group activities./ When

my group mates criticized/rejected my work./ When I have a hard time interacting

with the opposite sex)

d. School Rules/Policies (When the school used punishment to deal with my school

violations/discipline problems / When I am embarrassed in front of the opposite

sex after having been disciplined due to my misbehavior )

Please describe your identified difficult experience.

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

IV. BASED FROM THE INDENTIFIED DIFFICULT EXPERIENCE ON THE CO-

EDUCATION SYSTEM OF THE COLLEGE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, MANILA,

WHAT IS YOUR MOST EMPLOYED COPING MECHANISM?

Direction: Please read each item and indicate, by using the rating scale below, as to what

extent you used it in the situation you have just described.

4- Always(8-10) 3- Sometimes(4-7) 2- Seldom(1-3) 1- Never(0)

Scale 1 FREQUENCY

4 3 2 1

a. I did something which I didn't think would work, but at least

I was doing something.

b. I tried to get the person responsible to change his or her

mind.

c. I expressed anger to the person(s) who caused the problem.

d. I let my feelings out somehow.

e. I took a big chance or did something very risky.

f. I stood my ground and fought for what I wanted.

Scale 2 FREQUENCY

4 3 2 1

a. I went along with fate; sometimes I just have bad luck.

b. I went on as if nothing had happened.

c. I tried to look on the bright side of things.

d. I tried to forget the whole thing.

e. I refused to think about it too much.

f. I refused to get too serious about it.

4- Always(8-10) 3- Sometimes(4-7) 2- Seldom(1-3) 1- Never(0)

Scale 3 FREQUENCY

4 3 2 1

a. I did not face it but left things open somewhat.

b. I tried to keep my feelings to myself.

c. I tried not to act to act carelessly.

d. I kept others from knowing how bad things were.

e. I tried to keep my feelings from interfering with other things

too much.

f. I thought about what I would say or do.

g. I thought about how a person I admire would handle the

situation and used that as a model

h.

Scale 4 FREQUENCY

4 3 2 1

a. I talked to someone to find out more about the situation.

b. I accepted sympathy and understanding from someone.

c. I got professional help.

d. I talked to someone who could do something concrete about

the problem.

e. I asked a relative or friend I respected for advice.

f. I talked to someone about how I was feeling.

4-

Always(8-10) 3- Sometimes(4-7) 2- Seldom(1-3) 1- Never(0)

Scale 5 FREQUENCY

4 3 2 1

a. I criticized or lectured myself.

b. I apologized or did something to make up.

c. I realized I brought the problem on myself.

d. I made a promise to myself that things would be different

next time.

Scale 6 FREQUENCY

4 3 2 1

a. I hoped a miracle would happen.

b. I slept more than usual.

c. I tried to make myself feel better by eating, drinking, smoking,

using drugs or medication, etc.

d. I avoided being with people in general.

e. I took it out on other people.

f. I refused to believe that it had happened.

g. I wished that the situation would go away or somehow be over

with.

h. I had fantasies or wishes about how things might turn out.

Scale 7 FREQUENCY

4 3 2 1

a. I just concentrated on what I had to do next.

b. I made a plan of action and followed it.

c. I changed something so things would turn out all right.

d. I looked at my past experiences and did the same thing.

e. I doubled my efforts to make things work.

f. I came up with different solutions to the problem.

Scale 8 FREQUENC

Y

4 3 2 1

a. I was inspired to do something creative.

b. I changed or grew as a person in a good way.

c. I became a better person after.

d. I found new faith.

e. I rediscovered what is important in life.

f. I changed something about myself.

g. I prayed

Source: Buettner, Richard. (1994).Coping Mechanisms Used by Rural Principals in

Saskatchewan in Response to Stressful Events.(SSTA Research Centre Report #95-13)Retrieved

from http://www.saskschoolboards.ca/old/ResearchAndDevelopment/Research

Reports/Leadership/95-13.htm

APPENDIX C

Table 1. SHOWING THE AGE, GENDER, BIRTH ORDER AND YEARS IN CHSM BY

THE RESPONDENTS

Respondents Age Gender Birth order Years in CHSM








8 16 Female 4th born 5








APPENDIX D

TABLE 2. SHOWING FAMILY BACKGROUND OF THE FIFTEEN STUDENT

Respondents Years of parents in

abroad

Parents living

together

OFW parent/s

1 10 years Yes Both

2 5 years Yes Both




6 5 years No Mother

7 7 years No Mother







14 5 years yes Both


APPENDIX E

TABLE 3. SHOWING RESPONDENT’S DIFFICULT EXPERIENCE OF STUDENTS

WITH OFW PARENTS










class schedule


course






policies




one of my subject


understand


hard to understand





APPENDIX F

TABLE 3. SHOWING THE MEAN PER COPING MECHANISM SCALE

RESPONDENT

TABLE 3.a. SCALE 1: CONFRONTIVE COPING MECHANISM

RESPONDENT a b c d e f MEAN

1 3 2 2 3 2 2 2.33

2 3 2 4 4 3 4 3.33

3 2 2 2 3 2 3 2.33

4 3 2 2 2 2 3 2.33

5 2 2 1 3 3 3 2.33

6 4 3 2 3 3 1 2.67

7 4 3 2 3 2 3 3.00

8 2 2 3 3 3 2 2.50

9 3 1 1 3 3 1 2.00

10 1 2 1 3 1 2 1.67

11 3 1 3 3 1 2 2.16

12 2 3 3 4 3 4 3.16

13 3 3 2 2 3 3 2.67

14 3 3 1 2 3 3 2.50

15 2 2 3 3 3 1 2.33

2.67 2.13 1.93 3.07 2.47 2.47 2.49

TABLE 3.b. SCALE 2: DISTANCING COPING MECHANISM

RESPONDENT a b c d e f MEAN

1 3 2 3 3 3 2 2.67

2 4 4 3 2 1 1 2.50

3 2 3 4 2 2 2 2.50

4 3 2 4 3 2 2 2.67

5 2 2 4 3 4 4 3.16

6 3 4 2 4 2 4 3.16

7 3 3 4 3 3 3 3.16

8 2 4 3 4 2 2 2.83

9 3 3 3 3 3 3 3.00

10 3 3 4 3 1 3 2.83

11 3 2 3 4 4 3 3.16

12 4 4 4 4 4 4 4.00

13 2 1 4 4 3 3 2.83

14 2 1 4 3 3 3 2.67

15 2 4 4 3 2 2 2.83

2.73 2.80 3.27 2.93 2.60 2.47 2.93

TABLE 3.c. SCALE 3: SELF-CONTROLLING COPING MECHANISM

RESPONDENTa b c d e f g MEAN

1 3 2 3 2 2 2 2 2.29

2 2 4 2 2 4 4 4 3.14

3 2 2 2 3 3 4 4 2.86

4 2 4 3 3 2 3 3 2.86

5 1 1 2 1 1 3 3 1.71

6 4 4 3 4 2 3 4 3.43

7 3 3 3 3 4 4 3 3.29

8 2 4 3 3 3 3 3 3.00

9 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3.00

10 2 4 3 3 3 2 2 2.71

11 3 3 2 2 3 3 2 2.57

12 3 3 3 3 2 3 2 2.71

13 2 3 1 1 3 4 4 2.57

14 2 2 3 2 2 3 3 2.00

15 2 3 3 2 3 3 3 2.71

2.40 3.00 2.60 2.33 2.67 2.93 2.80 2.72

TABLE 3.d. SCALE 4 SEEKING SOCIAL SUPPORT COPING MECHANISM

RESPONDENTa b c d e f MEAN

1 3 3 1 3 3 3 2.67

2 3 4 2 2 1 4 2.67

3 3 3 2 4 3 4 3.17

4 2 4 3 2 2 2 2.50

5 4 4 4 3 4 4 3.83

6 3 4 3 3 3 4 3.33

7 3 3 2 3 3 4 3.00

8 4 4 3 3 3 3 3.33

9 3 3 3 3 3 3 3.00

10 3 4 1 2 1 2 2.17

11 2 3 4 2 2 3 2.67

12 4 4 2 3 3 3 3.17

13 3 3 2 2 2 3 2.50

14 3 3 3 3 3 3 3.00

15 4 4 2 3 1 4 3.00

3.13 3.53 2.47 2.73 2.47 3.27 2.93

TABLE 3.e. SCALE 5: ACCEPTING RESPONSIBILTY COPING MECHANISM

RESPONDENTa b c d MEAN

1 2 3 3 3 2.00

2 2 3 3 4 3.00

3 3 3 3 3 3.00

4 2 4 3 3 3.00

5 2 3 2 3 2.50

6 4 4 4 4 4.00

7 3 4 3 4 3.50

8 3 4 2 4 3.25

9 3 3 1 3 2.50

10 4 4 3 4 3.75

11 4 3 2 4 3.25

12 4 3 3 4 3.50

13 1 4 3 3 2.75

14 3 3 2 4 3.00

15 2 4 2 4 3.00

2.80 3.47 2.60 3.60 3.07

TABLE 3.f. SCALE 6: ESCAPE-AVOIDANCE COPING MECHANISM

RESPONDENTa b C d e f g h MEAN

1 4 3 1 2 1 1 3 2 2.13

2 3 2 4 3 2 3 3 3 2.88

3 2 2 1 2 2 1 2 2 1.75

4 4 3 2 3 2 2 3 4 2.63

5 4 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1.50

6 4 2 3 3 2 2 4 4 3.00

7 3 2 3 2 3 2 4 3 2.75

8 4 2 1 1 2 2 4 4 2.50

9 3 4 3 1 1 1 1 2 2.00

10 3 2 1 1 2 2 4 4 2.38

11 2 3 4 1 2 2 2 3 2.38

12 4 2 3 2 3 3 4 4 3.13

13 4 2 1 1 1 1 3 3 2.00

14 4 2 3 1 1 2 2 3 2.25

15 4 3 2 1 2 2 4 4 2.75

3.33 2.33 2.20 1.67 1.80 1.80 2.67 3.13 2.40

TABLE 3.g. SCALE 7: PLANFUL-PROBLEM SOLVING COPING MECHANISM

RESPONDENTa b c d e f MEAN

1 4 3 2 2 3 3 2.83

2 4 4 4 1 4 4 3.50

3 3 3 3 2 4 4 2.67

4 3 3 2 2 3 2 2.50

5 4 4 4 2 4 4 3.67

6 4 3 3 2 3 2 2.83

7 3 3 3 2 4 3 3.00

8 2 3 3 2 3 3 2.67

9 4 4 4 3 4 4 3.83

10 4 3 4 2 4 4 3.50

11 4 3 2 2 3 2 2.67

12 4 4 4 4 4 4 4.00

13 4 4 4 1 4 4 3.50

14 3 3 4 2 4 3 3.17

15 2 2 2 2 4 4 2.67

3.47 3.27 3.20 2.07 3.67 3.33 3.13

TABLE 3.h. SCALE 8: POSITIVE RE-APPRAISAL COPING MECHANISM

RESPONDENTa b c d e f g MEAN

1 4 4 3 3 3 3 4 3.43

2 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4.00

3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4.00

4 2 3 3 3 3 2 3 2.71

5 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4.00

6 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 3.43

7 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 3.57

8 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 3.57

9 4 4 4 2 3 3 1 3.00

10 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 3.71

11 2 3 2 2 2 2 4 2.43

12 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3.57

13 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4.00

14 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 3.86

15 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4.00

3.47 3.67 3.60 3.53 3.53 3.47 3.40 3.55

APPENDIX G

TABLE 4. TABLE SHOWING THE OVER-ALL MEAN, INTERPRETATION AND

RANKING OF THE EIGHT COPING MECHANISM SCALE

SCALE MEAN INTERPRETATION RANK

1 2.49 Seldom 6th

2 2.93 Seldom 4th

3 2.72 Seldom 5th

4 2.93 Seldom 4th

5 3.07 Seldom 3rd

6 2.40 Seldom 7th

7 3.13 Seldom 2nd

8 3.55 Sometimes 1st

APPENDIX H

TABLE 5. SHOWING THE TOP THREE (3)

COPING MECHANISMS SCALE OF EACH OF THE FIFTEEN STUDENTS

TABLE 5.a. STUDENT 1


1 2.50 Seldom 7th

2 4.16 Sometimes 4th


4 4.80 Sometimes 2nd

5 4.25 Sometimes 3rd



8 7.20 Always 1st

TABLE 5.b. STUDENT 2









8 8.29 Always 1st

TABLE 5.c. STUDENT 3







6 1.88 Seldom 8th



TABLE 5.d. STUDENT 4


1 3.13 Seldom 7th



4 3.00 Seldom 8th





TABLE 5.e. STUDENT 5


1 3.20 Seldom 6th


3 1.86 Seldom 7th

4 8.00 Always 2nd


6 1.25 Seldom 8th


8 8.14 Always 1st

TABLE 5.f. STUDENT 6






5 9.00 Always 1st




TABLE 5.g. STUDENT 7










TABLE 5.h. STUDENT 8







6 3.25 Seldom 8th



TABLE 5.i. STUDENT 9


1 2.33 Seldom 7th





6 3.01 Seldom 6th

7 8.33 Always 1st


TABLE 5.j. STUDENT 10


1 2.00 Seldom 8th



4 3.33 Seldom 7th

5 8.00 Always 2nd



8 8.43 Always 1st

TABLE 5.k. STUDENT 11


1 2.80 Seldom 8th


3 3.28 Seldom 6th



6 3.24 Seldom 7th



TABLE 5.l. STUDENT 12



2 8.67 Always 2nd





7 8.83 Always 1st

8 8.15 Always 3rd

TABLE 5.m. STUDENT 13







6 2.63 Seldom 8th


8 8.86 Always 1st

TABLE 5.n. STUDENT 14


1 3.34 Seldom 6th


3 3.14 Seldom 8th



6 3.26 Seldom 7th


8 8.43 Always 1st

TABLE 5.o. STUDENT 15


1 2.51 Seldom 8th







8 9.00 Always 1st

Documents

Coping Mechanisms of Students of the College of the Holy Spirit of Manila With Ofw Parents (Print)