Wenifreda Templonuevo’s scientific contributions

Learning to adapt to the new set of conditions that confound behavioral standards was made possible by the pandemic-driven change in the school system. Due to these conditions and the COVID-19 pandemic, students may experience behaviors like social media addiction and social anxiety that may affect their well-being or happiness. Thus, this study aims to investigate the effects of social media addiction and social anxiety on the happiness of tertiary students amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The study was conducted on 316 first-year college students utilizing Google forms to disseminate questionnaires. After utilizing Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale, Social Anxiety Scale, and Oxford Happiness Questionnaire, it was found that social media addiction (β =-0.30, p<.00) and social anxiety (β =-0.003, p<.00) has a significant negative effect on happiness. Therefore, the study recommended and designed a student wellness program that provides a range of recreational, health-improving, self-esteem-boosting, and relationship-strengthening activities for students in order to mitigate the negative effects of problematic social media usage and social anxiety that negatively affect their happiness.

The purpose of this phenomenological study is to explore the mothers' perspectives on how gadgets affect their children in middle childhood in relation to school and behavior. Using interpretative phenomenological analysis on data gathered indicates that the mother's guidance is vital for the children's social and behavioral development. To avoid excessive gadget use that may harm their children's health, mothers limit usage by making sure all of the schoolwork is completed before allowing them to use their devices. Some children's behavior changes when they are asked to follow parental instructions, and they often spend the majority of their time on the gadget they have neglected to use for their chores. The findings of this study brought out recommendations and proposed programs specifically for the mothers of children in middle childhood.

Binge watching is a practice of watching multiple movies in one sitting. This study aims to discover the lived experiences of early adults in binge-watching. With the use of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, the researchers provided interpretations and meanings out of responses given by the participants. The purpose of the study is to determine the experiences of early adulthood to binge-watching in terms of mental health, and emotions. In addition, this study also emphasizes the challenges of early adulthood in other aspects such as their physical health, social life, daily routine, sleeping patterns and academic performance in terms of binge-watching. 4th year college students in a private school in Bocaue, Bulacan ages 18-24 years old were attained through the use of purposive sampling. The participants accomplished a semi-structured interview guide consisting of a series of questions in the area of experiences and challenges of early adulthood towards binge-watching. The results that emerged from the data analysis is that early adulthood who are most likely to binge-watch are motivated by social media and peers. Early adulthood tends to feel positive emotions such as relaxation, happiness, satisfaction and empathy that results in emotional rewards caused by binge-watching.

The end of a relationship entails a significant change in one’s life. Separation of parents is defined as living in a household with only one parent or in a home where the parents are married but eventually stop living together as a couple. Typically, the experience of having a dysfunctional or unsatisfying relationship precedes the parents’ separation. This study aims to explore the lived experiences of young adults towards their parents’ separation, specifically: (1) to describe the lived experiences, advantages and disadvantages, towards parental separation; (2) to determine young adults’ specific attitudes towards parental separation; and (3) to identify the coping mechanisms regarding parental separation. Utilizing the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) method, the study findings are the following: (1) Young adults experienced more disadvantages from parental separation than advantages. Most participants battled mainly with longing for parental support, early childhood responsibility, and delinquency. (2) Young adults displayed various attitudes regarding affect, mainly sadness, perplexity, anger, fear, frustration, and envy. Some of them displayed inappropriate behaviors towards social relationships, such as avoidant, apathetic, disrespectful, and violent behaviors. (3) Most young adults, primarily males, coped mostly through acceptance and forgiveness, social support, positive changes, optimism, and lessons from the situation.

Fan culture has grown immensely over the past few years. People are constantly looking up to celebrities and personalities as role models for their fashion, identity, and success. During the stage of adolescence, it is normal for teenagers to admire well-known people and form fan attachments as part of their identity formation. However, this admiration of a specific media figure can be associated with one's personality, cognitive processes, and psychological well-being. Thus, the current study aims to investigate the correlation between celebrity admiration and the self-esteem of 238 Filipino male teenagers. The research instruments, namely Celebrity Attitude Scale (CAS) and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) were both utilized through google forms. Results have shown high scores on celebrity admiration and the normal range of self-esteem of the participants. Using Pearson's r correlation coefficient, it was found that celebrity admiration and self-esteem of Filipino male teenagers have a significant relationship that exists in a negative direction.

A quarter-life crisis (QLC) is a phenomenon that has gained widespread attention in the media and popular literature as a result of the difficulties associated with early adulthood. This study, "Tumatanda na Ako: The Quarter-life Crisis Phenomenon Among Emerging Adults," explored the emerging adults' experiences of quarter-life crisis and the meaning they make out of their experiences of this phenomenon. The study utilized the interpretative phenomenological analysis of the qualitative data gathered from twenty (20) respondents from a higher educational institution in Bocaue, Bulacan. The findings have been the bases for the development of the developmental program entitled, "Know-Now, Know-How: Unveiling the Quarter-life Crisis Phenomenon and Finding Ways to Conquer!" and for the development of a proposed psychological assessment tool namely "Help! I Am Lost," A Quarter-life Crisis Scale.

COVID-19 had remarkable effects on different sectors and industries that pushed them to cope and adjust to the abrupt change in all facets globally. Including universities and colleges, management prepared an effective action plan in response to the current crisis. Institutions decided to adopt the hybrid work model where employees, including the management and educators, work by turns from home or remotely and on-site. The study uses the literature review to investigate available scientific literature on the possible effects of the hybrid work model on the employees' work productivity, specifically in a higher education institution. The sources and references came from research databases such as Google Scholar, the Open Access Directory Journals, and other websites. The results suggest that employees should feel and experience positive well-being, a sense of belongingness in terms of collaboration, and continuous innovation to cope with the new set-up of hybridity, which will not compromise their work productivity.