Mental Health, Coping Stress, and Academic Achievement in Islamic Religious Education: A Quantitative Study of Senior High School Students

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1. Introduction

Learning outcomes are the culmination of the interaction between teachers' teaching actions and students' learning actions, as stated by Dimyati and Mudjiono, where for teachers it is marked by an evaluation process, while for students it marks the end of the learning process. In general, learning outcomes are influenced by internal factors (health, intelligence, interests, motivation and ways of learning) as well as external factors (family, school and community environment). A literature review conducted by Yandi, Putri, and Putri confirmed that these two groups of factors are interrelated in determining student learning outcomes (Yandi et al., 2023) [32]. More specifically on the subject of Islamic Religious Education, Siregar found that teachers' teaching methods, class facilities, school culture and family environment were the most determining external factors (Siregar, 2024) [29]. From an internal perspective, learning motivation has been proven to have a significant effect on the learning outcomes of class X students (Auli et al., 2023) [12], as also confirmed in Integrated Social Sciences subjects at junior high school level (Dawolo et al., 2024) [13]. Meanwhile, from the external side, the family environment is proven to play a major role in the learning achievement of elementary school students (Fredy et al., 2022) [15], which strengthens the picture that learning outcomes are actually the product of students' internal conditions interacting with the support of the surrounding environment.

Health conditions, both physical and mental, are one of the internal factors that really determine a person's learning process and outcomes; Mentally healthy students tend to be able to channel their potential in a harmonious and directed manner. Setiawati, Putra, Rahmi, and Syam's research on vocational school students shows that there is a real influence between mental health conditions on Islamic Religious Education learning outcomes (Setiawati et al., 2023) [28], findings which are in line with the results of Lestari and Rista's study on the eyes social studies lessons at junior high school level (Lestari & Rista, 2023) [19]. Aspects of physical health such as sleep quality have also been shown to contribute significantly: research by Salikunna, Astiawan, Handayani, and Ramadhan found a relationship between sleep quality and study concentration levels (Salikunna et al., 2022) [27], while Sunbanu, Rante, and Damanik confirmed a similar relationship in students during stressful learning periods (Sunbanu et al., 2021) [30]. Recent findings from Lisnawati, Ningrum, and Nurhidayah further strengthen this pattern by showing a significant correlation between sleep quality and study concentration in students (Lisnawati et al., 2025) [20], so it can be concluded that excellent health, both physical and mental, is an important prerequisite for optimal student learning outcomes.

Stress that is not managed properly can trigger sleep disorders, decreased concentration, loss of motivation, and even distraction the ability to remember and understand lesson material, which ultimately has an impact on reducing student learning outcomes. Yolanda and Rozali's research on high school students shows that the level of academic stress is significantly related to students' academic performance (Yolanda & Rozali, 2021) [34]. This finding is reinforced by Puspita and Kumalasari who link academic stress with procrastination tendencies in learning activities (Puspita & Kumalasari, 2022) [23], as well as by a local study by Hayati, Alwi, and Sauddin who found that the demands of academic tasks are the main stress factor involving students' cognitive, emotional and physical aspects (Hayati et al., 2023) [16]. Network analysis conducted by Zhang and his colleagues even succeeded in mapping patterns and manifestations of psychological symptoms due to academic stress among high school students (Zhang et al., 2024) [35]. Apart from that, Rahmawati and Ilmiyah found that there were differences in the level of academic stress between male and female students (Rahmawati & Ilmiyah, 2021) [24], shows that academic stress is a complex phenomenon that needs to be understood from various angles before it has an impact on learning outcomes.

Coping stress is a strategy used by individuals to overcome pressure from within and outside themselves. Lazarus and Folkman classify these strategies into problem-focused coping, which is oriented towards resolving the root of the problem, and emotion-focused coping, which is oriented towards managing emotional responses. Pradipta and Hanami's qualitative research on adolescents found that emotion-focused coping was most widely used, including in the form of spiritual coping (Pradipta & Hanami, 2024) [22], in line with Salami and colleagues' findings that positive reappraisal through involvement in religious matters is a form of emotion-focused coping that is effective in reducing stress (Salami et al., 2021) [26]. However, Ashari found that the majority of teenagers in Indonesia still tends to use less adaptive or maladaptive coping strategies in dealing with stress (Ashari, 2023) [11]. On the other hand, a survey by Immanuel, Marheni, Indrawati, Swandi, and Bajirani shows that the use of appropriate coping strategies helps students remain productive and mentally healthy even under high pressure (Immanuel et al., 2021) [17], and Larashati and colleagues confirmed that emotion-focused coping is able to maintain students' emotional stability in stressful situations although its effectiveness tends to be limited in the long term (Larashati et al., 2024) [18].

Mental health plays an important role in realizing students' optimal development, both physically, intellectually and emotionally, and is a prerequisite for achieving learning achievement without excessive pressure. Yarmaini's research shows that collaboration between Islamic Religious Education teachers and Guidance teachers Effective counseling strengthens students' mental health while anticipating bullying behavior at school (Yarmaini, 2025) [33]. This is in line with the innovative programs studied by Rofiqi, Iksan, and Mansyur in Islamic education institutions, which have been proven to play a significant role in students' mental well-being (Rofiqi et al., 2023) [25], as well as Mansyur and Salim's findings that Islamic Religious Education learning specifically contributes to maintaining students' mental health in secondary schools (Mansyur & Salim, 2023) [21]. The effectiveness of this Islamic-based approach was also confirmed by Elvin, Sufri, Isneini, Mawarpury, and Fithria in treating the mental condition of bullying victims through Islamic counseling (Elvin et al., 2024) [14]. Meanwhile, Utami, Asniar, and Hayati's research on teenagers in Islamic boarding schools shows that religious community-based social support contributes to students' subjective psychological well-being (Utami et al., 2023) [31], strengthening the picture that religious programs in high schools Negeri 11 Pekanbaru is in line with good practices that have been empirically tested.

2. Method

This study employed a Research and Development (R&D) approach using the ADDIE instructional design model, which consists of five sequential stages: Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation. The purpose of this study was to develop an adaptive Islamic Religious Education (PAI) learning module based on the Deep Learning approach to strengthen ecological ethics among students at Sekolah Rakyat in Riau Province. The ADDIE model was selected because it provides a systematic and iterative framework for designing, validating, implementing, and refining educational products to ensure their effectiveness, practicality, and relevance to learners' needs. During the Analysis stage, a comprehensive needs assessment was conducted through classroom observations, interviews with teachers and school administrators, and document analysis of the existing curriculum and learning materials. The findings were used to identify students' learning characteristics, ecological awareness, and instructional challenges in Islamic Religious Education. In the Design stage, learning objectives, instructional strategies, assessment instruments, and module components were systematically prepared by integrating Deep Learning principles, ecological ethics, and Islamic values. The Development stage involved producing the prototype of the learning module, which was subsequently evaluated by experts in Islamic education, instructional design, language, and educational media to establish its content validity, construct validity, and overall feasibility before implementation.

The validated module was then implemented in selected Sekolah Rakyat through classroom learning activities to examine its practicality and effectiveness. Data were collected using expert validation sheets, teacher and student response questionnaires, classroom observation checklists, and learning outcome assessments. Finally, the Evaluation stage consisted of formative and summative evaluations aimed at identifying strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement of the developed module. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, including percentage scores and validity criteria, while qualitative data obtained from observations, interviews, and expert suggestions were analyzed through data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing. The integration of these analyses ensured that the developed adaptive PAI learning module met the criteria of validity, practicality, and effectiveness in strengthening students' ecological ethics.

3. Results and Discussion

3.1.1. Research Instrument Test Results

The validity test of the 25 mental health questionnaire items (X1) and the 30 stress coping questionnaire items (X2) showed that all items in both variables were declared valid, with calculated r values ranging from 0.408–0.670 (X1) and 0.339–0.653 (X2), both of which were greater than the r table (0.187) at the 5% significance level. The results of the reliability test using the Cronbach's Alpha technique show a value of 0.902 for the mental health variable and 0.875 for the stress coping variable, both of which are above the 0.80 threshold so they are classified as very reliable and suitable for use as research instruments.

3.1.2. Description of Research Variables

Mental Health. Based on Keyes' (2002) categorization which divides mental health into three categories—flourishing, moderate, and languishing. The majority of students (42.8%) are in the flourishing category with the highest average learning outcomes (87.12), while students in the languishing category showed the lowest average learning outcomes (73.25). This pattern is consistent with Ryff's thesis that a healthy mental state is associated with better performance in various aspects of life, including academic achievement. Coping with Stress. The categorization of students' stress coping shows the following distribution. The majority of students (56.3%) were in the moderate stress coping category, while only 9.8% were in the low category and showed the lowest learning outcomes compared to the other two categories.

3.1.3. Test the Analysis Prerequisites

The results of the classical assumption test show that all requirements for regression analysis are met. The normality test with One-Sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov produces an Asymp value. Sig. (2-tailed) of 0.200 (> 0.05), which indicates the residual data is normally distributed. The linearity test shows a significant linear relationship between X1 and Y (Sig. deviation from linearity = 0.505) and between X2 and Y (Sig. deviation from linearity = 0.285), both of which are above 0.05. The multicollinearity test produced a tolerance value of 0.892 (> 0.10) and a VIF of 1.121 (< 10) for the two independent variables, indicating that multicollinearity did not occur. The heteroscedasticity test shows a significance value of 0.930 for X1 and 0.237 for X2 (both > 0.05), so the regression model is free from heteroscedasticity problems.

3.1.4. Hypothesis Test Results

• The Influence of Mental Health on Learning Outcomes: Simple linear regression analysis shows that mental health has a significant effect on student learning outcomes (t = 6.149; Sig. = 0.000 < 0.05), with a contribution of 15.1% to the variation in learning outcomes, while the remaining 84.9% is influenced by other factors outside the model. • The Effect of Coping Stress on Learning Outcomes: Coping stress was also proven to have a significant effect on student learning outcomes (t = 6.944; Sig. = 0.000 < 0.05), with a contribution of 18.5% to the variation in learning outcomes. • Simultaneous Influence of Mental Health and Stress Coping on Learning Outcomes: The results of the F test show that mental health and stress coping simultaneously have a significant effect on student learning outcomes (F = 33.304; Sig. = 0.000 < 0.05), with a combined contribution of 23.9%, while the remaining 76.1% is explained by other variables not examined in this research. The partial test (t test) in the multiple regression model shows that the two independent variables both contribute significantly to learning outcomes, with a beta coefficient for mental health of 0.256 (t = 3.896; Sig. = 0.000) and coping stress of 0.325 (t = 4.960; Sig. = 0.000), which indicates that coping with stress makes a relatively greater contribution than mental health to student learning outcomes in Islamic Religious Education subjects in State High Schools. 11 Pekanbaru.

4. Discussion

4.1. Discussion of Instrument Test Results

The high reliability coefficients obtained in this study (Cronbach's Alpha of 0.902 for the mental health scale and 0.875 for the coping stress scale) indicate that both instruments possess strong internal consistency and are suitable for capturing the psychological constructs under investigation. This finding is consistent with methodological guidance emphasizing that instruments used in path and regression analysis must first demonstrate adequate validity and reliability before being used to test causal relationships between psychological variables and learning outcomes (Marwan et al., 2023) [7]. The consistently valid items across both scales further strengthen confidence that the subsequent regression findings genuinely reflect the relationship between the constructs measured rather than measurement error.

4.2. Discussion of Mental Health Description

The finding that the majority of students (42.8%) fell into the flourishing category, followed by moderate (30.2%) and languishing (27.0%), with average learning outcomes decreasing accordingly across categories, reinforces earlier evidence linking students' psychological flourishing to more favorable academic performance. Kalimatusyaro found that mental health, together with learning motivation and learning discipline, significantly predicted the academic achievement of elementary-level students, with mental health emerging as one of the strongest individual predictors (Kalimatusyaro, 2021) [6]. Similarly, a study on junior high school students in Surabaya during online learning reported a significant positive relationship between students' mental health condition and their academic achievement, where students with better psychological well-being consistently outperformed peers experiencing psychological strain (Anggraini et al., 2023) [2]. This pattern was also confirmed at the junior secondary level in Bangka Belitung, where mental health was found to significantly affect students' learning achievement, with anxious or emotionally unstable students showing lower academic scores than their more psychologically stable counterparts (Harahap et al., 2022) [3]. Taken together, these studies support the present finding that students in the languishing category recorded the lowest mean learning outcomes (73.25), suggesting that unresolved psychological strain — even when not classified as clinical disorder — can still meaningfully suppress academic performance.

4.3. Discussion of Coping Stress Description

The distribution of coping stress levels in this study, where the majority of students (56.3%) fell into the moderate category and only 9.8% into the low category with the lowest associated learning outcomes, is consistent with recent findings on the role of coping strategies in academic performance. A study on senior high school students facing mathematics-related academic pressure found a significant relationship between students' stress coping strategies and their learning outcomes, with students who applied more adaptive coping strategies achieving considerably higher scores than those relying on maladaptive or avoidant coping (Rosa et al., 2021) [9]. This aligns with findings from university students showing that coping stress significantly influenced the level of academic procrastination, where poorer coping ability was associated with greater task avoidance and, subsequently, weaker academic outcomes (Afriyani & Karneli, 2022) [1]. These findings collectively suggest that the ability to manage stress functionally — rather than the mere presence or absence of stress itself — is what differentiates students who sustain strong academic performance from those who do not.

4.4. Discussion of Hypothesis Testing Results

• The Effect of Mental Health on Learning Outcomes: The finding that mental health significantly affected learning outcomes (t = 6.149; Sig. = 0.000), contributing 15.1% to the variance in learning outcomes, corresponds with recent research indicating that psychological disturbances such as anxiety and frustration can affect students' learning motivation even when their direct effect on test scores is comparatively modest (Jabbarov et al., 2025) [5]. This relatively modest yet significant contribution also mirrors findings among university students showing that mental health was significantly related to learning outcomes during a period of online instruction, although its effect was moderated by other contextual variables such as learning environment and workload (Mathar et al., 2023) [8]. • The Effect of Coping Stress on Learning Outcomes: The present finding that coping stress contributed 18.5% to the variance in learning outcomes — a slightly larger share than mental health alone — is supported by evidence that stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms significantly contributed to declining academic performance among students, and that the way students appraised and managed these stressors was a stronger determinant of outcomes than the stressors themselves (Zubairi et al., 2025) [10]. This is further reinforced by intervention-based research showing that structured stress-management training, such as stress inoculation training, was effective in reducing academic stress among secondary school students, which in turn supported more stable learning engagement (Hasmawati et al., 2024) [4]. • The Simultaneous Effect of Mental Health and Coping Stress on Learning Outcomes: The combined contribution of mental health and coping stress to learning outcomes (23.9%) confirms that both constructs operate as complementary — rather than redundant — predictors of academic achievement. The larger standardized contribution of coping stress (β = 0.325) relative to mental health (β = 0.256) suggests that, among students at SMA Negeri 11 Pekanbaru, the active management of psychological pressure plays a comparatively greater role in shaping PAI learning outcomes than the underlying mental health condition itself. This is consistent with the broader pattern found in the literature reviewed above, where adaptive coping strategies consistently distinguished higher- from lower-achieving students more sharply than baseline psychological well-being alone. Nevertheless, given that the two variables jointly explained only 23.9% of the variance in learning outcomes, the remaining 76.1% indicates that other factors — such as teaching methods, family environment, and school culture as identified in earlier sections of this study — continue to play a substantial role and warrant further investigation in future research.

5. Conclusion

This study concludes that both mental health and coping stress have a significant and positive influence on students' learning outcomes in Islamic Religious Education at SMA Negeri 11 Pekanbaru, whether examined independently or simultaneously. Mental health was found to contribute 15.1% to the variation in learning outcomes (t = 6.149; Sig. = 0.000), while coping stress contributed slightly more at 18.5% (t = 6.944; Sig. = 0.000). When tested together, the two variables jointly accounted for 23.9% of the variance in learning outcomes (F = 33.304; Sig. = 0.000), with coping stress showing a relatively stronger contribution (β = 0.325) than mental health (β = 0.256). These findings confirm that students who are psychologically flourishing and who apply effective coping strategies tend to achieve higher learning outcomes than those experiencing languishing mental health or relying on less adaptive coping strategies, as reflected in the descriptive data where the flourishing and high coping categories consistently recorded the highest average scores. However, since the two variables together explain less than a quarter of the total variance, it is clear that learning outcomes remain shaped by a broader constellation of factors beyond psychological well-being and stress management alone. Based on these findings, schools — particularly Islamic Religious Education teachers and guidance counselors at SMA Negeri 11 Pekanbaru — are encouraged to strengthen existing psychological support programs, such as individual counseling, anti-bullying campaigns, and spiritually oriented activities, while placing greater emphasis on equipping students with practical coping skills, including time management training and relaxation techniques, given that coping stress showed the stronger relative contribution to learning outcomes in this study. Special attention should be directed toward the 27% of students in the languishing category and the 9.8% relying on low coping strategies, as these groups showed the weakest academic performance and may benefit most from targeted early intervention. For future researchers, it is recommended that subsequent studies expand the scope of predictor variables beyond mental health and coping stress — such as teaching quality, family environment, and peer relationships — to better account for the remaining 76.1% of unexplained variance, and that qualitative approaches be considered to explore more deeply how students experience and navigate psychological pressure in the context of religious education learning.

Thank-You Note The author would like to express sincere gratitude to all those who contributed to the completion of this study. Deepest appreciation is extended to the author's parents for their endless prayers, love, and moral and material support throughout the research and writing process. The author also wishes to thank the thesis supervisor for the invaluable guidance, direction, and constructive feedback provided from the early stages of this study through to its completion, as well as the examining committee for their insightful critiques and suggestions that helped refine this work. Gratitude is further extended to the leadership and academic community of [institution/university name] for the facilities and academic support provided during the author's studies, and to the principal, Islamic Religious Education teachers, guidance counselors, and students of SMA Negeri 11 Pekanbaru for their permission, time, and cooperation during the data collection process. Finally, the author would like to thank friends and colleagues for their continuous encouragement and support, as well as everyone who contributed directly or indirectly to the completion of this research. The author acknowledges that this study is not without limitations, and constructive feedback is warmly welcomed for future improvement; it is hoped that this work will contribute meaningfully to the field of education, particularly in efforts to improve students' mental health and learning outcomes. Want to be notified when Claude responds?