This study used analytical cross-sectional research design to determine the prevalence of parental stress among the parents of JHS students in ADZU-JHS and determine the relationship between perceived stress and parental stress, and parental stress and child-parent relationship. There were 301 participants recruited to the study by voluntary response sampling. Three (3) survey questionnaires were used. Through the Perceived Stress Scale – 10 – COVID 19, 285 (94.7%) of the participants had moderate COVID-19-related stress while there was only 1 (0.3%) for mild COVID-19-related stress and 15 (5%) for severe COVID-19-related stress. Through the Parental Stress Scale, the results exemplified that a vast majority of the participants, 284 (94.4%), had moderately severe parental stress, the other 13 (4.3%) reported moderate parental stress, and 4 (1.3%) had severe parental stress. The Child-Parent Relationship Scale assessed the levels of closeness and conflict between the parent and the children. The data showed that most of the participants were “close” to their children (94%), but a majority also had moderate conflicts with their children (69.1%). According to the Pearson Correlation Analysis done, the level of COVID-19-related stress and the level of parental stress appeared to have a Pearson correlation of -0.014 with a significance level of .810 indicating that there are no significant correlations. Second, the parental stress and level of closeness has shown a Pearson correlation of 0.262 with a significance level of <0.001 that indicates a positive correlation but is considered a weak correlation. Lastly, the parental stress and level of conflict has shown as Pearson correlation of 0.262 with a significance level of <0.001 that indicates a positive correlation but is considered a weak correlation. The results of this study can be used to implement intervention for parents to manage their parental stress and prevent a poor child-parent relationship during this pandemic.

Keyword: Stress level among parents of junior high school students During the COVID-19 pandemic