Mathematics anxiety-where are we and where shall we go?

Factors predicting the mathematics anxiety of adolescents: a structural equation modeling approach

Introduction

Mathematics anxiety (MA) is a distinct negative emotional state or trait that individuals experience when confronted with mathematical problems in everyday life and academic contexts. This study aims to identify the key predictors of MA among secondary-level students in Bangladesh.

Methods

Utilizing a quantitative cross-sectional research design, data were collected from 486 students across 89 institutions. Later, the data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM).

Results

The findings revealed that math related negative past experiences (β = 0.241, t = 4.914, p < 0.001) and a perceived lack of teacher support (β = 0.234, t = 5.440, p < 0.001) significantly contribute to students' low self-efficacy in mathematics. This low self-efficacy is further influenced by negative attitudes and test anxiety, ultimately leading to increased MA (β = 0.694, t = 22.695, p < 0.001). Additionally, cognitive challenges, particularly working memory difficulties, directly affect MA (β = 0.110, t = 2.659, p = 0.008). The study also found that negative attitudes (β = 0.347, t = 9.063, p < 0.001) and test anxiety (β = 0.251, t = 5.913, p < 0.001) independently exacerbate MA. Moreover, a lack of motivation in learning mathematics is directly influenced by this elevated level of MA (β = 0.384, t = 9.939, p < 0.001).

Discussion

Taken together, the study proposes several key recommendations and policy implications to inform the development of synchronized policies by educational authorities aimed at combatting, reducing MA among secondary-level students in Bangladesh and similar contexts.

The interplay between ego-resiliency, math anxiety and working memory in math achievement

Previous research has suggested that math anxiety may contribute to poor math performance by interfering with working memory. However, only a limited number of studies investigated the mediating role of working memory in the math anxiety-math performance link in school-aged children. Unlike math anxiety, ego-resiliency is a personality resource that promotes the management of challenges and has been positively associated with math performance and negatively with anxiety. Nevertheless, there is still limited understanding regarding the specific role of ego-resiliency in math learning and how it relates to math anxiety. This study aimed to investigate conjunctly the interplay between primary school children's ego-resiliency, math anxiety, working memory, and performance on two different math tasks (i.e., arithmetic task and word problem-solving task), after controlling for general anxiety and age. The study involved 185 Italian children from grades 3 to 5. Serial multi-mediational analyses revealed that: (1) ego-resiliency has a positive indirect effect on math achievement through two paths - math anxiety, and math anxiety and working memory; (2) the study replicated previous findings showing that working memory partially mediated the relationship between math anxiety and math performance; (3) similar patterns of results were found for both math skills. The study identifies ego-resiliency as a possible protective factor in the development of math anxiety and suggests that ego-resiliency could be worth considering when designing interventions aimed at reducing negative emotions towards mathematics.

The impact of cognitive emotion regulation strategies on math and science anxieties with or without controlling general anxiety

It is well-established that general anxiety associates with the lower use of adaptive emotion regulation and the higher use of maladaptive emotion regulation. However, no study has previously investigated the impact of cognitive emotion regulation on academic anxieties. Using a sample of secondary school students (N = 391), this study examined the impact of cognitive emotion regulation on math and science anxieties. Math anxiety showed stronger correlations with adaptive than maladaptive emotion regulation, whereas general anxiety showed stronger correlations with maladaptive than adaptive emotion regulation. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that math anxiety was associated with the high uses of acceptance, rumination and other-blame and the low uses of positive reappraisal and putting into perspective. However, with controlling science and general anxieties, math anxiety was associated with the high use of rumination and the low use of positive reappraisal. In contrast, science anxiety was associated with the high uses of acceptance and other-blame and the low use of positive reappraisal. Importantly, however, with controlling math and general anxieties, those science anxiety associations did not remain. Accordingly, these results might provide important insights for the specificity, etiology, and intervention of math anxiety.

A large-scale study on the prevalence of math anxiety in Qatar

BACKGROUND

Math anxiety (MA) is a worldwide appearing academic anxiety that can affect student mental health and deter students from math and science-related career choices.

METHOD

Using the Arabic version of the Modified-Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale (m-AMAS), the prevalence of MA was investigated in a very large sample of students (N = 10093) from grades 7 to 12 in Qatar.

RESULTS

The results showed a better fit to the original two-factor model of the m-AMAS (learning MA and Evaluation MA) than to a single-factor solution. This two-factor model was also confirmed in each grade. Notably, the distribution of MA scores was right-skewed, especially for learning MA. Using the inter-quartiles ranges, norms for MA were provided: A score of ≤16 indicates low MA whereas a score of ≥30 identifies high MA. Previous studies conducted in Western countries defined high math-anxious students as those who score above the 90th percentile corresponding to a score of 30 on the m-AMAS. Using this cut-off criterion, the current study found that one-fifth of students in Qatar were highly math-anxious, with a higher proportion of females than males. We also calculated the percentage of participants selecting each response category for each questionnaire item. Results showed that attending a long math class was the context that elicited the highest levels of learning MA. In contrast, having an unexpected math test was the situation that triggered the highest levels of evaluation MA.

CONCLUSION

The prevalence of MA might vary across different cultures.

Developmental Dyscalculia in Relation to Individual Differences in Mathematical Abilities

There is still much debate about the exact nature and frequency of developmental dyscalculia, and about how it should be defined. This article examines several key questions in turn: Is developmental dyscalculia a distinct disorder, or should it be seen as the lower end of a continuum-or possibly more than one continuum-of numerical ability? Do individuals with developmental dyscalculia show atypical brain structure or function? Does the study of acquired dyscalculia have anything to teach us about developmental dyscalculia? In studying dyscalculia, should we look less at arithmetical ability as a single entity, and more at separable components of arithmetical ability? How heterogeneous is developmental dyscalculia, and how important is it to study individual profiles? To what extent is developmental dyscalculia influenced by domain-specific versus domain-general abilities? The conclusion is that, though a significant amount has been discovered through existing research, and though this has some important implications for screening and diagnosis of dyscalculia, there is much more research that still needs to be conducted if we are to answer all of these questions fully. In particular, the study of developmental dyscalculia must be more integrated with the study of individual differences in mathematics in the population as a whole.

Foundations for future math achievement: Early numeracy, home learning environment, and the absence of math anxiety

BACKGROUND

Mathematics achievement is pivotal in shaping children's future prospects. Cognitive skills (numeracy), feelings (anxiety), and the social environment (home learning environment) influence early math development.

METHOD

A longitudinal study involved 85 children (mean age T1 = 6.4 years; T2 = 7.9) to explore these predictors holistically. Data were collected on early numeracy skills, home learning environment, math anxiety, and their impact on various aspects of math.

RESULTS

The study found that early numeracy skills, home learning environment, and math anxiety significantly influenced math school achievement. However, they affected written computation, sequences, and comparisons differently. Early numeracy skills strongly predicted overall achievement and comparison subtest performance.

CONCLUSION

These findings underscore the substantial role of math anxiety and home learning environment in children's math achievement. The study emphasizes the need to consider the selective impacts of these factors in future research, shedding light on the multifaceted nature of mathematics achievement determinants.

Emotions and mathematics: anxiety profiles and their influence on arithmetic performance in university students

Mathematics anxiety (MA), general and test anxieties affect mathematics performance. However, little is known about how different anxiety profiles (i.e. individual configurations of anxiety forms) influence the relationship between MA and mathematics performance in university students. To the best of our knowledge, studies that have categorized participants based on their anxiety profiles and investigated how such groups differ in mathematics performance and other individual characteristics have all been conducted only with children and adolescents. Using latent profile analysis, we identified five different anxiety profiles in UK university students (N = 328) based on their MA, test anxiety (TA) and trait general anxiety levels (GA). Beyond extreme profiles (high or low levels in all forms of anxiety), we found groups characterized by more specific anxiety forms (MA profile, TA profile and high anxiety with low MA learning profile). These profiles were differentially related to arithmetic performance (but not the performance in a non-mathematics task), and individual factors (e.g. self-concept and self-efficacy). Results can inform the design of interventions tailored to individuals' unique anxiety profiles and highlight the necessity to further study the underpinning mechanisms that drive the MA developmental trajectory from childhood to adulthood.

The componential nature of arithmetical cognition: some important questions

Research on typically developing children and adults and people with developmental and acquired dyscalculia converges in indicating that arithmetical ability is not unitary but is made up of many different components. Categories of components include non-symbolic quantity representation and processing; symbolic quantity representation and processing; counting procedures and principles; arithmetic operations; arithmetical knowledge and understanding; multiple forms and applications of conceptual knowledge of arithmetic; and domain-general abilities such as attention, executive functions and working memory. There is much evidence that different components can and often do show considerable functional independence, not only in developmental and acquired dyscalculia, but in typically achieving children and adults. At the same time, it is possible to find complex interactions and bidirectional relationships between the different components, including between domain-specific and apparently domain-general abilities. There is a great deal that still needs to be discovered. In particular, we need to learn more about the origins in infancy of subitizing and approximate magnitude comparison, the extent to which these interact, the extent to which they may be further divisible, and the extent and ways in which they themselves may develop with age and the extent to which they may influence later-developing components. There also needs to be a lot more research on exactly how domain-general and domain-specific abilities contribute to mathematical development, and how they interact with one another.

Understanding the complexities of mathematical cognition: A multi-level framework

Mathematics skills are associated with future employment, well-being, and quality of life. However, many adults and children fail to learn the mathematics skills they require. To improve this situation, we need to have a better understanding of the processes of learning and performing mathematics. Over the past two decades, there has been a substantial growth in psychological research focusing on mathematics. However, to make further progress, we need to pay greater attention to the nature of, and multiple elements involved in, mathematical cognition. Mathematics is not a single construct; rather, overall mathematics achievement is comprised of proficiency with specific components of mathematics (e.g., number fact knowledge, algebraic thinking), which in turn recruit basic mathematical processes (e.g., magnitude comparison, pattern recognition). General cognitive skills and different learning experiences influence the development of each component of mathematics as well as the links between them. Here, I propose and provide evidence for a framework that structures how these components of mathematics fit together. This framework allows us to make sense of the proliferation of empirical findings concerning influences on mathematical cognition and can guide the questions we ask, identifying where we are missing both research evidence and models of specific mechanisms.

The relationship between math anxiety and math performance: The moderating role of visuospatial working memory

According to the processing efficiency theory (PET), math anxiety would interfere with working memory resources, negatively affecting mathematical abilities. To date, few studies have explored how the interaction between math anxiety and working memory would affect different types of math tasks, especially in primary school children. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore whether the interplay between math anxiety and working memory would influence performance in numerical operations (i.e., math fluency task) and mathematical reasoning (i.e., math reasoning task) in a group of primary school children (N = 202). Results showed that visuospatial working memory appeared to moderate the relationship between math anxiety and math performance when the math fluency task was considered, indicating that participants with higher levels of working memory were more negatively affected by math anxiety. No interaction effect was found for the math reasoning task in which students' scores were explained only by visuospatial working memory. The findings suggest that math anxiety and visuospatial working memory interact to influence performance in the math fluency task and that this effect may vary depending on the strategies used to complete the task. On the other hand, results on the math reasoning task showed that visuospatial working memory continues to have a positive effect on the math performance independently of math anxiety. The implications in the educational setting are discussed, pointing to the importance of monitoring and intervention studies on affective factors.

Multidimensional components of (state) mathematics anxiety: Behavioral, cognitive, emotional, and psychophysiological consequences

The present study aimed to analyze the different components of state mathematics anxiety that students experienced while solving calculation problems by manipulating their stress levels. A computerized mathematical task was administered to 165 fifth-graders randomly assigned to three different groups: positive, negative, and control conditions, in which positive, negative, or no feedback during the task was given, respectively. Behavioral (task performance), emotional (negative feelings), cognitive (worrisome thoughts and perceived competence), and psychophysiological responses (skin conductance and vagal withdrawal) were analyzed. Behavioral responses did not differ in the positive and negative conditions, while the latter was associated with children's reportedly negative emotional states, worries, and perceived lack of competence. The stress induced in the negative condition led to an increase in skin conductance and cardiac vagal withdrawal in children. Our data suggest the importance of considering students' interpretation of mathematics-related experiences, which might affect their emotional, cognitive, and psychophysiological responses.

Unraveling the role of math anxiety in students' math performance

Math anxiety (MA; i.e., feelings of anxiety experienced when being confronted with mathematics) can have negative implications on the mental health and well-being of individuals and is moderately negatively correlated with math achievement. Nevertheless, ambiguity about some aspects related to MA may prevent a fathomed understanding of this systematically observed relationship. The current study set out to bring these aspects together in a comprehensive study. Our first focus of interest was the multi-component structure of MA, whereby we investigated the relationship between state- and trait-MA and math performance (MP) and whether this relation depends on the complexity of a math task. Second, the domain-specificity of MA was considered by examining the contribution of general anxiety (GA) and MA on MP and whether MA also influences the performance in non-math tasks. In this study, 181 secondary school students aged between 16 and 18 years old were randomly presented with four tasks (varying in topic [math/non-math] and complexity [easy/difficult]). The math task was a fraction comparison task and the non-math task was a color comparison task, in which specific indicators were manipulated to develop an easy and difficult version of the tasks. For the first research question, results showed a moderate correlation between state- and trait-MA, which is independent of the complexity of the math task. Regression analyses showed that while state-MA affects MP in the easy math task, it is trait-MA that affects MP in the difficult math task. For the second research question, a high correlation was observed between GA and MA, but regression analyses showed that GA is not related to MP and MA has no predictive value for performance in non-math tasks. Taken together, this study underscores the importance of distinguishing between state and trait-MA in further research and suggests that MA is domain-specific.

Mathematics–gender stereotype endorsement influences mathematics anxiety, self‐concept, and performance differently in men and women

Mathematics anxiety (MA) is negatively associated with mathematics performance. Although some aspects, such as mathematics self‐concept (M self‐concept), seem to modulate this association, the underlying mechanism is still unclear. In addition, the false gender stereotype that women are worse than men in mathematics can have a detrimental effect on women. The role that the endorsement of this stereotype (mathematics–gender stereotype (MGS) endorsement) can play may differ between men and women. In this study, we investigated how MA and mathematics self‐concept relate to arithmetic performance when considering one's MGS endorsement and gender in a large sample (n = 923) of university students. Using a structural equation modeling approach, we found that MA and mathematics self‐concept mediated the effect of MGS endorsement in both men and women. For women, MGS endorsement increased their MA level, while in men, it had the opposite effect (albeit weak). Specifically, in men, MGS endorsement influenced the level of the numerical components of MA, but, unlike women, it also positively influenced their mathematics self‐concept. Moreover, men and women perceived the questions included in the considered instruments differently, implying that the scores obtained in these questionnaires may not be directly comparable between genders, which has even broader theoretical and methodological implications for MA research.

Spatialization in working memory and its relation to math anxiety

Working memory (WM) is one of the most important cognitive functions that may play a role in the relation between math anxiety (MA) and math performance. The processing efficiency theory proposes that rumination and worrisome thoughts (induced by MA) result in less available WM resources (which are needed to solve math problems). At the same time, high MA individuals have lower verbal and spatial WM capacity in general. Extending these findings, we found that MA is also linked to the spatial coding of serial order in verbal WM: subjects who organize sequences from left-to-right in verbal WM show lower levels of MA compared with those who do not spatialize. Furthermore, these spatial coders have higher verbal WM capacity, better numerical order judgment abilities, and higher math scores. These findings suggest that spatially structuring the verbal mind is a promising cognitive correlate of MA and opens new avenues for exploring causal links between elementary cognitive processes and MA.