Too Anxious to Speak: Assessing the Impact of Social Anxiety on High School Students’ Self-Esteem, Academic Performance, and Coping Strategies

Abstract

Social anxiety is one of the most prevalent mental health issues students experience. It is the excessive worry on negative opinions about oneself from people. This study analyzes relative impacts of social anxiety on high school students' academic performance and self-esteem, and evaluates what stimulates social anxiety problems among high school students and how they overcome it. A phenomenological approach was utilized to examine experiences of 12 high school students from Central Luzon State University, Philippines. Through Social Cognitive Theory, the researchers explored the cognitive, social, and behavioral components that contributed to effects of social anxiety on high school students' self-esteem, academic performance, and coping strategies. Data were gathered through semi-structured audio-recorded interviews and were analyzed thematically. Results revealed various factors, including environmental, negative experiences, and inner conflicts that caused social anxiety. Students suffering from social anxiety struggle academically while building relationships with peers as well. Overcoming social anxiety is challenging and effective coping strategy helps reduce students' anxiety. Collectively, social anxiety significantly impacts academic performance, self-esteem, and coping strategies.. This study would contribute to literature and the educational field as it could serve as a guide to what actions should be implemented to improve the mental health of high school students through better guidance on coping strategies, which was revealed to be lacking. Therefore, school-based anxiety treatments, as well as socio-academic programs, must be concretized to develop social skills and succeed in future endeavors. This study would benefit literature and the educational field as it could guide them to what actions should be made to improve the mental health of high school students through better guidance on coping strategies, which was revealed to be lacking.